Before Saturday night, no USC players knew what it was like to walk off the field at the Coliseum after a defeat.
As they began to dissect what went wrong in their 24-23 loss to Stanford, all the players combated this unfamiliar feeling.
The loss snapped a 35-game home winning streak for No. 10 USC, one that was more than double that of the closest team. The Cardinal defeated the Trojans 21-16 in 2001 - the Trojans' last loss in the Coliseum before Saturday.
"It's hard to realize how many awesome things we've done here during this streak," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "It stinks to give it up, especially playing the way we did tonight."
The loss also marked the end of 24 consecutive Pacific-10 Conference wins at home - also a conference and school record.
The win had additional meaning for Stanford wide receivers Mark Bradford and Richard Sherman, both Southern California natives. Bradford hauled in the winning touchdown catch in the final minute; Sherman held on to a fourth-and-20 pass, despite a hit by USC safety Kevin Ellison that gave the Cardinal a first down.
"I'm so amped about this win right now; I can't even feel that hit," Sherman said.
Carroll said there was no formula for beating USC at home, but the Trojans made too many errors to expect to win.
"They did a heck of a job, and we just had a ton of mistakes," Carroll said of the Cardinal.
"I never thought we would lose tonight, even after they scored. We thought we'd go down the field and kick a field goal."
The Trojans reacted differently to the end of the streak. Some players said the feeling had not sunk in yet. Others said they had to move forward.
"We've lost before; no one is perfect," USC defensive end Lawrence Jackson said. "We don't get caught up with streaks; that's the media."
But the magnitude of the loss had already settled in for some Trojans, who found the sting particularly discomforting.
The senior class was especially taken aback by the defeat.
"I've never had this feeling in the five years I've been here, and it's a very disgusting feeling," said USC defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis, who had three sacks against the Cardinal. "As long as I'm here, I'm going to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Despite fans talking about USC's dashed national title hopes immediately following the game, the Trojans believe that a championship is still within reach.
"You can count us out if you want, but we lost in [2003] and got back," Jackson said, referring to USC's
national title in 2003 despite a midseason loss to Cal. "Those top tens only count at the end of the season."
The Trojans have multiple chances to redeem themselves at home. They will host Arizona next Saturday for Parents Weekend and play Oregon State for homecoming in four weeks.
The opportunity to recreate the streak was immediately on Carroll's mind following the game.
"This is a new beginning for us," Carroll said. "We have to start again and find out how to execute the way we expect to."
Yet Carroll couldn't help but muse about how different it felt to come up short in the Coliseum, a feeling he's only experienced three times in his career as the Trojans' coach.
"Even looking up at the Herd as I walked up the tunnel just looked different. I've been around the block, and I've had my wins and losses, but I don't accept losing."
