They are really hard to beat at the end of every season, but, aside from the BCS national title victory over Oklahoma, this may be Carroll's best finish yet.
Give him a month, he'll make a memory. Hand the championship to the team that is playing the best at the end, and the Trojans arguably could have won six of the last seven national titles.
In November, Mark Sanchez was being questioned as a quarterback and leader.
On Thursday, after accounting for all five touchdowns with four passes and a run, he stood on the famed band ladder and listened to fans literally beg him -- "One more year, one more year" -- to stay for his senior season.
"It's going to be hard to say goodbye to this place," he said later. "I don't think I can do it."
A month ago, Damian Williams was a promising receiver without a 100-yard game or a Mike Williams-type moment.
On Thursday, he had both, catching 162 yards worth of passes, including the trend-setting first touchdown when he simply ran away from this poor outmatched safety named Anthony Scirrotto.
"Playing on this kind of national stage, this kind of win should say a lot," Damian Williams said.
Playing in a fourth consecutive Rose Bowl against another Big Ten tomato can, I thought USC would be bored. Instead, the Trojans bored, directly into the psyche of the overmatched Nittany Lions, hitting them with Kyle Moore jabs and Kaluka Maiava crosses and more speed than you find on the Glendale Freeway at midnight.
"You could see it right away, they were really caught off-guard, they don't see a lot of this in the Big Ten," said linebacker Brian Cushing. "Even in the first quarter, they started getting tired."
Playing in a no-win situation in their first virtually meaningless game in a year, I though USC would be restless. Instead, the Trojans were relentless, scoring 24 points in less than a dozen minutes in that second quarter, sending Penn State running.
"I remember coming to the line and hearing one of their coaches shouting to the defensive backs, 'Back up! Back up!' " recalled receiver Ronald Johnson. "Those guys just bailed."
At the end of a season in which many suspected that USC has the ability to be the best team in the country, the Trojans finally acted like it.
There was the USC team bouncing on to the field in an impromptu celebration -- with nearly two hours left in the game.
There was a touchdown ball being grabbed and pumped and paraded down the sidelines -- by Carroll.
