Coming off a win over Washington that included 16 penalties, 3 turnovers and a blocked punt, Saturday's game against Stanford was supposed to be a chance for USC to get back on track.
Instead, the Trojans' train was completely derailed in one of the most stunning defeats in the history of USC football.
On fourth-and-goal from the USC 10-yard line with 49 seconds left, Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard connected with receiver Mark Bradford in the back of the end zone to tie the game at 23.
Kicker Derek Belch converted the ensuing point-after attempt; the Trojans were unable to counter, and the Cardinal (2-3, 1-3 Pacific-10 Conference) walked away with a 24-23 win in front of 85,125 fans at the Coliseum.
"It was shocking," senior tailback Hershel Dennis said. "We [weren't] really thinking we were going to lose the game. It just turned out the wrong way."
"[Stanford] just hung around and waited," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "We made enough mistakes and they capitalized.
This just goes to show, the guys who play better win."
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Stanford tailback Anthony Kimble scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to make the score 16-14 USC.
The No. 10 Trojans (4-1, 2-1 Pac-10) answered with a nine play, 86-yard drive capped off by a 47-yard touchdown pass from quarterback John David Booty to receiver Ronald Johnson.
With the team up by nine points and only 11 minutes left to play, no one on USC's sideline, including Carroll, thought the result was in question.
"I never thought we would lose tonight," Carroll said.
But Pritchard and the Stanford offense had other plans.
Immediately after the Johnson touchdown, Pritchard led the Cardinal on a 12-play drive that culminated in a 26-yard Belch field goal to cut the lead to six.
USC countered with two quick first downs, but a sack by Stanford linebacker Clinton Snyder forced the Trojans into a third-and 19 in which Booty was intercepted by cornerback Wopamo Osaisai - his third interception of the second half.
"There were some times where balls were just bad. Straight up, just bad balls," Booty said. "There were other times where there was some pressure and times where we were trying to force some things there at the end."
Booty finished the night 24-of-41 for 364 yards and two touchdowns, but his four interceptions and numerous dropped passes proved to be too much for USC's defense to handle.
After the Osaisai interception, Pritchard drove the Cardinal to the USC 29, where they faced a fourth-and-20. He completed a pass to receiver Richard Sherman for the exact yardage needed to set up first-and-goal from the 9-yard line.
A substitution infraction moved Stanford back to the 10, only to have Pritchard connect with Bradford in the end zone to seal USC's fate.
"I saw the guy was playing me one-on-one; he had no help," Bradford said. "He [gave me] about seven yards, so I went up, gave him a move, I looked up and the ball was in the air.
"[Pritchard] put it in the perfect place."
Pritchard, making his first career start in place of senior T.C. Ostrander, who suffered a seizure earlier in the week, was only 6-of-18 for 88 yards at the end of the third quarter but found a rhythm with his receivers in the final frame.
Pritchard said the fourth-and-20 pass that kept the game alive was his call.
"Coach called a play, but I couldn't hear it because it was so loud," Pritchard said. "Don't tell him I said this, but I called my own play."
As the Cardinal were driving down the field for the eventual go-ahead score, the USC sideline as well as the fans watching from the seats were standing in unison, incredulously, with hands on head.
The "Go Trojans" chant - as USC was attempting to make a goal line stand - died after three rounds, as fans opted to hold their collective breath rather than defiantly pronounce that the unthinkable wasn't about to happen.
Carroll found himself at a loss for words, realizing his team's 35-game home winning streak had come to an end.
"It just shows you [rankings and records don't] matter," Carroll said. "That's sports. That's how it works. They played better than we did."
Carroll also said Booty suffered a chipped bone to the middle finger on his throwing hand early in the second quarter. All four of Booty's interceptions came after the injury, but Booty said it didn't restrain him enough to stop playing.
"It was definitely something I could play with," he said. "If I felt I was seriously hurting or [couldn't] do anything to my abilities, I wouldn't [play]."
Tailback Chauncey Washington, who led USC with 75 yards on 23 carries, scored the team's first touchdown to put the Trojans ahead 9-0.
Stanford blocked the point after attempt, however, which turned out to be the difference in the final score.
With 10 seconds remaining in the first half and USC still up nine points, Carroll elected to go for it on fourth-and goal from the 1-yard line. Washington was stopped for no gain by Stanford cornerback Nick Sanchez, who also had an interception and a fumble recovery.
"The intent was to go for it the whole time," Carroll said. "[Kicking the field goal] is not the way we operate. We go for it."
The atmosphere in the USC locker room following the game was sober at best, with several players hanging their heads by their lockers. The team still expressed hope for the rest of the season, but couldn't come up with a logical explanation as to how it lost the game.
"To lose at our house, we're just shocked," Dennis said. "We don't even know how to take it."
