 "Photo: Joel Zink | Daily Trojan")
Desmond Reed stood at the 13-yard line waiting for Notre Dame's kickoff to reach him.
He looked up and realized the ball was sailing over his head so he began to backpedal.
At the 4-yard line, he planted his foot and turned, but his right foot got caught in the grass, causing his knee to hyperextend.
And then Reed heard the noise no football player ever wants to hear - a loud pop.
"I basically knew I tore my ACL when it happened, because I heard it," Reed said.
Reed then fell to the ground and took his helmet off as trainers ran out to help him.
Meanwhile, the ball innocently rolled into the end zone for a touchback. The aftermath left many thinking there was nothing innocent about the injury.
Many, including several players and USC officials, blame the long grass at Notre Dame Stadium for Reed's injury two years ago.
But Reed is careful not to point any fingers at Notre Dame or its football coach, Charlie Weis.
"It's just a strategy many teams use," Reed said of the long grass.
But the strategy didn't work for Notre Dame, as it was a game that was remembered for its finish - the Bush Push and USC's miraculous 34-31 win - and not Reed's injury.
This weekend will mark Reed's first trip back to Notre Dame, but Reed he says it won't have any special meaning for him.
"I have to treat it as any other road game," Reed said. "I think it will feel regular. I don't have any fear of anything."
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It's Reed's fearlessness that helped him through a rough childhood in Alabama.
He grew up in a difficult family environment as the oldest of five children raised by a single mother.
His grandmother stepped in and realized it would be best for Reed to move to California and live with his aunt in Temple City when he was in the fourth grade.
"It was the best situation for me to move out here and get me out of my family situation that was going on at home," Reed said.
Temple City is a city of about 33,000 people roughly 15 miles northeast of USC, where whites and Asians make up about 88 percent of the population. Blacks, however, make up less than 1 percent.
It was a change of pace from his lifestyle growing up in the South.
"Growing up in Alabama, I don't remember seeing too many white or Asian people, so it was different at first," Reed said. "But I adapted."
Reed's transition was made easier by his ability to play sports. He grew up next to the city park and starred on the football field.
He became Temple City High School's first four-year starter and broke six school records, including returning 13 punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns.
It was his explosiveness that caught the attention of coaches, and Reed decided to sign with the Trojans during his senior year in 2002, joining a recruiting class that already had running backs Reggie Bush, LenDale White and Chauncey Washington.
Reed started out as a defensive back at USC and changed to running back after redshirting his freshman year. But it was special teams where Reed really shined.
In 2004 he was named USC's special teams player of the year, after returning kicks and making several special teams tackles in kickoff coverage.
And in 2005, Reed began to make huge strides in the return game and in all-purpose yardage. He averaged 13.8 yards on his 24 touches in 2005 and averaged a whopping 38.8 yards per kick return.
He was another weapon on a team that already had the biggest weapon in the country - Reggie Bush.
Teams had to worry about both Bush and Reed returning kickoffs, causing a dilemma for opposing coaches.
That's why in the sixth game of the season, Notre Dame decided to kick to Reed in the second quarter, despite his 31-yard return earlier in the game.
That decision, however, changed Reed's career and health forever.
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Doctors originally warned Reed he might never play football again. It wasn't the ACL tear that was the problem.
It was the nerve damage, which caused him to lose control of his right foot, a condition called drop foot.
Contrary to doctors' words, Reed felt he still had the chance to play - not sometime in the future, but the next season.
"I never doubted it twice that I wouldn't be able to play football again or play next season," Reed said. "Some people didn't think I was going to be able to play the following season, but I was able to prove them wrong."
Reed even proved his coaches wrong, who remain amazed by his recovery.
"I've always been blown away," USC coach Pete Carroll said. "It's an amazing thing he's overcome."
Reed played in 12 games last year, returning 20 punts for 109 yards for a 5.4 average and got his revenge against the Irish.
His longest punt return of the season came against Notre Dame for 43 yards, which led to a touchdown in USC's 44-24 rout.
But Reed said it was just a coincidence it happened against the Irish.
"It was well-overdue to produce a long punt return for the team," Reed said. "So I was just happy to get one, and it just happened to be that game."
Now Reed has a chance to do the same thing against Notre Dame this Saturday in South Bend, Ind.
But it remains to be seen whether the grass will be as long as it was last time at Notre Dame Stadium. Weis wouldn't comment about the length of the grass but did comment on Reed's injury.
"I remember Desmond Reed got hurt in that game, OK, and no way do you ever want a player getting hurt from another team for any reason," Weis said.
But he continued to defend the field conditions at the stadium.
"It isn't like our grass grows like we're living in the South," Weis said. "It is what it is."
Carroll said Tuesday he felt the grass situation was "blown out of proportion."
But Carroll did say Reed hasn't been the same since that injury.
"He's still not close to being 100 percent with the nerve damage he suffered," Carroll said.
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For Reed, though, not being at 100 percent is good enough as long as he has a chance to contribute and lead younger players by example.
His dream of playing in the NFL is likely over, but he's graduating with a degree in sociology with the goal of helping people once he leaves USC.
He's gotten a head start by mentoring the younger players on the team.
"I definitely see myself as a leader," Reed said. "There's a bunch of young guys on the team. When they first get here, I talk to them and show them the ropes."
One of those players is freshman running back Joe McKnight, who is sharing the punt returning duties with Reed and had a game-changing 45-yard return against Arizona last week.
"I pass down my wisdom to him and wish him the best," Reed said. "I want to see the guy do well. I just tell him to remember his responsibilities."
Reed already knows his responsibilities and has done more than his fair share of fulfilling them at USC.
