Forty-four wins, three Pac-10 titles and a national championship.
The raw accomplishments of USC's senior class put the departing players in the company of some of the school's most decorated athletes.
With the opportunity to win their fourth conference title and an unprecedented sixth-consecutive title for the Trojans, the group can add to its legacy.
But in the midst of preparing for their last game in the Coliseum, USC's seniors are trying to block out any distractions that could keep them from going to their third-straight Rose Bowl.
"Playing our last game in the Coliseum, trust me, it hits home," senior linebacker Keith Rivers said. "But we have a championship on the line, so after the game we'll reminisce and look at how all this was."
USC coach Pete Carroll has downplayed the significance of the seniors' last home game in hopes of keeping his team levelheaded when they play the Bruins on Saturday.
In 2005, the Trojans embraced the concept of a senior send-off as a tribute to departing players in their regular season finale against UCLA. Senior quarterback Matt Leinart was in tears throughout the early portion of the game.
A distracted Leinart threw five straight incompletions on the opening drive. The Trojans dismantled the Bruins, 66-19, but Leinart finished 21 of 40 passing for the day - his season low for completion percentage.
Carroll said he doesn't want this year's team to have to shake off a similar start.
"We've been recognizing the seniors' fine careers for a month now, so we don't have this enormous celebration that makes guys break down and cry for the first quarter like Matt Leinart did," Carroll said.
While Carroll has tried to quiet talk of the seniors' last game in the Coliseum to a whisper, he is also one of the first to note the class' progress since its arrival at USC.
Carroll said when senior defensive end Lawrence Jackson first arrived on campus, he was "a screwball." But after adjusting to the freshman learning curve, Jackson went on to become a four-year starter and team captain.
During their time at USC, Jackson and the rest of the seniors have had to learn how to face all the distractions that come with lofty expectations. Arriving on campus as the most heralded recruiting class in the nation, most of USC's now-senior class competed for two national titles in its first two years.
But after suffering just one loss in those two years, the Trojans lost two games last year, taking them out of the national championship race.
The prospect of playing for another title was one that brought most of the class back for another shot.
"We all talked to each other and were wondering about what everyone else was going to do," Rivers said. "Getting the opportunity to come back and play with some of the best players in America, that's hard to turn down."
The Trojans have only razor-thin hopes to reach the national championship game this season, but the prospect of playing for the Rose Bowl is far from a consolation prize. After a loss to UCLA at the end of the 2006 season spoiled USC's hopes of returning to the national championship game, the Trojans have made sure that the Bruins are their sole focus this year.
USC's seniors are so enticed by the idea of another conference championship that they are willing to put individual egos aside and not let Senior Day take center stage.
For some of USC's seniors, it will not only be their last home game but possibly also their last time playing organized football.
"I'm sure this year we will have a couple of guys like that," senior quarterback John David Booty said. "It's a sad day to know that's it. A lot of guys, you know, don't get to go on from here and play more ball."
Even though the seniors have tried to keep their emotions from interrupting their preparation, Booty said there is an unspoken feeling between the seniors - a silence that may well be broken after the final whistle Saturday.
"We haven't talked about it, but we all know it's coming toward the end," Booty said. "I can just feel between the seniors by how much guys have been hanging out and just talking and just seeing seniors with each other.
"You can tell in that sense, it's getting close to the end."



