A month ago, the University of Southern California was written out of the national championship picture following a stunning loss at Oregon State that dropped USC from second to ninth in the rankings.
What a difference a month can make.
The Trojans have now won four straight games, including a 44-24 thumping of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Saturday, vaulting them to 10-1 and a possible shot at a national championship.
The plethora of undefeated and one-loss teams that blockaded the top spots in the polls parted like the proverbial Red Sea as USC has made its run over the past four weeks: Louisville dropped West Virginia from the undefeated ranks and was then knocked off by Rutgers. Texas' hopes for repeating were dashed when the Longhorns lost to unranked Kansas State.
The SEC, which boasted four one-loss teams in the top 12 a month ago, proceeded to take care of itself, with three of the one-loss teams losing to fellow SEC teams, leaving only Florida with any possible chance. However, Florida wrote itself off in pollsters' eyes with narrow, unconvincing wins over unranked Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Florida State. In the meanwhile, USC beat Stanford, then-ranked No. 21 Oregon and No. 17 California in successive weeks while outscoring their opponents 100-19.
That dramatic run set the scene for Saturday's match-up with No. 6 Notre Dame, another one-loss team hoping for a chance to make its own statement with an upset. But there was more riding on this game than just a spot in the national championship: These storied programs have a heated rivalry that spans over 80 years - but it was the most recent edition that stirred the intense emotions.
Two plays defined last year's classic: "Fourth and Nine" and "The Bush Push." These plays bookended USC's game-winning drive in the fourth quarter of a 34-31 thriller in South Bend. Trailing by three on their own 26, USC converted on a fourth and nine with a pass to Dwayne Jarrett for a 61-yard completion down the sideline.
Later, on the same drive, USC faced a monumental decision: Trailing by three, but on the one-yard line with three seconds left, they could kick the field goal and go into overtime, or they could go for the win.
Trojan quarterback Matt Leinart tried to sneak into the end zone but immediately ran into a wall of defenders. Before Leinart could be dragged down, Trojan RB Reggie Bush shoved Leinart across the goal line for the winning touchdown. Bush went on to win the Heisman, and USC made the national championship game - while Notre Dame went on to lose to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
With these memories still fresh in their minds, the Irish looked to avenge last year's loss and ruin USC's chances of going to the title game. However, it was not their night.
Notre Dame's defense looked like it was running in mud as it tried to stop USC's high-powered offense. Just 10 minutes into the game, USC amassed a 14-point lead, with two touchdowns by last year's "fourth and nine" hero, Jarrett. By the end of the first quarter, Notre Dame trailed USC 21-3 and was unable to stop any of USC's offensive drives.
Irish head coach Charlie Weis' propensity to gamble on offense failed to pay off, as he rolled snake eyes all night. For the game, the Irish finished 2 for 6 on fourth downs, with all four failures coming in Trojan territory. Notre Dame was able to pull within two scores with just under four minutes to play, but another one of Weis' gambles proved devastating. The Irish attempted an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff; however, the Trojans' Brian Cushing not only recovered the kick, but returned it for a touchdown to extend USC's lead to 20.
The loss dropped Notre Dame's record to 10-2, but it will most likely receive an at-large BCS bid due to the school's national following. USC, on the other hand, will likely leapfrog over idle No. 2 Michigan, which completed its regular season last week in a close loss to No. 1 Ohio State. All that now stands between the Trojans and a berth in the national championship is next week's game against their cross-town rival, unranked UCLA.
As for accepted bowl bids, BYU is going to the Las Vegas Bowl, Hawaii will play in the Hawaii Bowl in Honolulu, and Purdue heads to the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando. Minnesota is going to the Insight Bowl in Phoenix, Iowa to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, and Navy to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte. Penn State heads to the Outback Bowl in Tampa, and Wisconsin is going to the Capital One Bowl - also in Orlando.
