The Trojan War - Stanford Daily
Never awake a sleeping giant.

If the old adage holds true, USC football and the USC marching band might compete to see who can most dominate their Stanford counterpart tomorrow at 4 p.m...

...The football team, meanwhile, might wish they were in the Red Zone against a team infinitely stronger, faster, more talented — and now angrier as well — than the Cardinal...

...As Stanford Stadium has grown increasingly empty by the game and USC’s fan base ever larger by the season, the Cardinal may be facing a road atmosphere in their home stadium...

Trojans are trying to get tighter grip - LA Daily News
USC freshman tailback Emmanuel Moody carried the ball just three times in last week's loss to Oregon State, but even he can't seem to escape questions about fumbles.

"Everyone acts like I fumbled like crazy," Moody said. "I've only fumbled two times. I know it's magnified because I'm a freshman. But it gets annoying.

"When coaches say something, it's OK. But when people around you are saying it, it's annoying."...

...the issue came to the forefront because starting tailback Chauncey Washington fumbled twice against Oregon State...

Also, Garrett has talk with Washington - LA Times

Diminishing return for top recruit - SJ Merc
Jeff Schweiger does his best to hide the frustration. Asked how his USC career has gone, the former Valley Christian High star forces a slight smile and stares off in the distance.

``I've learned a lot, and in that sense it's been good,'' said Schweiger, a junior defensive end. ``Everything hasn't gone my way, but that's the way it goes in life. All you can do is keep working.''

Three years ago, Schweiger was the Mercury News' Central Coast Section player of the year, a Parade first-team All-American and one of the most coveted recruits in the country...Everyone wanted him. He chose USC, and it has not gone as he hoped.

Schweiger spent his first fall as a backup -- no surprise there...

No longer the understudy, Trojan QB relishes star role - SF Chron
John David Booty waited his turn on the USC sidelines for three years, mustering as much patience as could be expected when you're backing up one of the marquee players in college football.

Now Booty's got top-billing for the Trojans in his first season as the starting quarterback, and he knows first-hand that it was never as easy as it looked.

"I came here to USC to play on the biggest stages," said Booty, the Trojans junior quarterback. "You know everybody is gunning for you."

As Booty and his USC teammates found out last week in Corvallis, every once in a while they get you...

Also, Sanchez waiting in wings - San Gabriel Valley Tribune

How coaches handle the heat - Memphis Commercial Appeal
... The rash of heart attacks and surgeries among college football coaches, particularly those in their mid-40s to early 50s, seemingly has increased dramatically the last few years...

...two straight losing seasons will put a coach's job in jeopardy...

...Making the job fun: Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll is a notorious prankster, keeping his staff and team loose...

..."Coaching does consume you," Carroll said, "but you have to be a master of maximizing the spaces between the spaces and getting the most you can when you do have your breaks. We've found a way to work really hard and practice with great discipline to meet our objectives, but still allow for fun and good times out there. I don't know how to do it any other way."...

Trojan Tradition: Why we Weekender - Daily Trojan
The Weekender. A Trojan tradition everyone seems to follow without question. Every fall, hundreds of students and alumni make their way up the California coast to support our football team in its game against either Stanford or California. But does anyone ever wonder how this whole thing got started?

Joe Enloe, a 1957 USC graduate and chairman for the Bay Area Weekender Committee, is the perfect person to ask. He has been involved with the Weekender since 1964 and has seen it develop and change throughout the eras. It now stands as an important tradition to draw the Trojan family together in pride and to raise money for future family members.

The early years...

Also, For one weekend, even USC gets hyphy - Daily Trojan
SO HAPPY TOGETHER? - Contra Costa Times

BOUNCING BACK - Daily Trojan
...Despite the Cardinal's unimpressive statistics, the Trojans claim they will approach Saturday's game like any other matchup. Defensive end Lawrence Jackson said last weekend's loss to Oregon State doesn't give the Trojans any extra incentive to come out strong against the Cardinal.

"We don't overlook anybody," Jackson said. "The loss doesn't mean anything. We're not putting anything extra on the rest of the games. We don't believe in false motivation."

USC has not beaten a team by more than 17 points in Pac-10 play this season, but Carroll...denied any motivation for a blowout against a team that is last in the conference in rushing defense, passing defense, total defense, passing offense and total offense...

[Withers] Why Troy finally fell - Seattle Times
Let's not issue the autopsy on USC, 2006, just yet. This is a team that still might win the Rose Bowl.

But after an eminently average four-game stretch — at least for the Trojans — it's also fair to say this isn't a team in the same league as any of the past three, and perhaps dating through 2002, pre-Reggie Bush days when USC shared the league title with Washington State.

The Trojans have had just enough slippage of various elements...to render them only a vague facsimile of 2003-05...

..."They're not like the cats they had before," said the same coach, referring to former Trojans like Kenechi Udeze, Mike Patterson and Shaun Cody. "These guys are good players, those guys were war daddies."...

Also, [Krikorian] Carroll has USC exactly where he wants - Long Beach Press-Telegram

Vocal Lua Ready to Play - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
Oscar Lua is healthy and making the case for a chance to play.

The senior middle linebacker from Indio said he sees himself as a senior leader who would like to lead.

"But it's really hard not being out on the field," Lua said Thursday of his injury-plagued season that has seen sophomore Rey Maualuga move into the starter's spot.

"We're a young defense with me and Dallas Sartz the only two seniors, and Dallas has never been a vocal leader," Lua said. "That's my role."

And now he's healthy, over a couple of hamstring pulls and a crack in his shin that caused additional problems...

USC at Stanford - AthlonSports
...Pete Carroll’s team likely will take out all of its pent-up frustrations against a youthful, undermanned Cardinal entry and spoil another sunny fall afternoon in Palo Alto at the league’s newest football facility, making all of the latest fan comforts moot.

It’s the team that never loses but did against a team that can’t win no matter what happens.

USC went back to work this week bent on restoring its dynasty and getting over the shock of going to practice on a sour note.

“We’re back to life and here we go,” Carroll said.

Still, some rough spots need to be smoothed out...

[Krikorian] USC's Rachal focused on jobs - Long beach Press-Telegram
Chilo Rachal is one of many underclassmen starting this season for the USC Trojans, a 6-foot-6, 305-pound sophomore guard from Compton who has set high standards for himself.

"I want to be the best guard ever to play at USC," says the Dominguez High graduate. "No way I'm going to leave early from college. I like it here a lot, and I want to maximize my potential to its fullest before taking that next step. I still have a lot to learn, and a lot more improvement to make."

His head coach, Pete Carroll, thinks that Rachal can attain the heights he has set for himself.

"No doubt that Chilo has a chance to be a great football player," says Carroll...

Schweiger to play in nickel - LA Daily News
USC defensive end Jeff Schweiger has been nearly invisible this season and did not play in the past two games, but he could finally have a key role Saturday.

"He's going to start in the nickel package," Coach Pete Carroll said.

It's quite a boost for Schweiger, a highly regarded recruit who has barely played this season. He did not see time against Oregon State or Arizona State and played just a few snaps against Washington.

"I'm excited," Schweiger said. "But I'm not going to be happy unless I get sacks because I haven't done anything yet."

The move is being made because USC's pass rush has been inconsistent...

Beating USC is low-marginal - LA Daily News
..."The losses have been similar, we've had turnovers and really hurt ourselves," Carroll said.

But here's the real stat of the Carroll era that is rarely mentioned but most impressive. In his six years as the Trojans' coach, Carroll has lost just one game by more than 10 points...

...Even with the Trojans facing that 33-10 deficit against Oregon State, Carroll's team somehow avoided getting blown out for the first time in his career. Compare that to the legendary Joe Paterno...

...Then there is so-called genius Charlie Weis...

Matchup with Stanford a prime opportunity to open up the playbook - Daily Trojan
...It's time to move on past the loss. Toss it onto the trash heap of inappropriate topics to broach at parties, right along with religion, politics and Vince Young. The Trojans played down to the Beavers and lost. It's over.

Look forward rather than back, to Palo Alto rather than Corvallis. This game against the winless Cardinal needs to be more than Novocaine to numb the loss without doing anything to heal the maladies that caused it.

And Stanford is the Red Cross of the Pac-10. Since Tyrone Willingham left after the 2001 season, the Cardinal has gone 9-28 in the Pac-10 and 15-37 overall. Eight of those 37 losses and none of the wins have come this year. Stanford hasn't won since Nov. 12, 2005.

Repairs must be made to the creaking machine that is the Trojans...

Also, Coming off loss, Trojans avoid a leisurely attitude - Daily Trojan

Suddenly Tough on Kicker - Inland Empire Press-Enterprise
With 26 of his first 36 kickoffs going into the end zone for touchbacks, Troy Van Blarcom wasn't accustomed to getting many run back at him. Not until Saturday, that is, when Oregon State managed to return five kickoffs.

"In warmups I could tell my ball wasn't going as far," said Van Blarcom. "There was so much mist in the air. It was much heavier."

That mist was mostly fog that lingered almost until the 12:30 p.m. kickoff. The chilly air also made it more difficult for Van Blarcom to warm up and gauge his kicks.

He said a hip injury suffered last month hasn't bothered him in games...

Held back - Daily Trojan
The numbers - or lack thereof - are stunning.

Zero carries.

Zero catches.

Zero touchdowns.

In fact, the only statistic that can be attributed to freshman running back Stafon Johnson is minus-15, when he was called for offensive pass interference at Washington State.

All - or nothing - from the prospect who was supposed to replace Reggie Bush and LenDale White in the USC backfield...

Maualuga reflects on past troubles - LA Times
Rey Maualuga's USC teammates apparently could not help themselves.

The sophomore linebacker said several Trojans ribbed him about being arrested one year ago Wednesday after punching a man at a Halloween party near campus.

"My friends brought it up," he said. "They're saying, 'Hey, you're celebrating your one-year anniversary.' "

Maualuga, though, maintains that he has put his troubles behind...

..."I've grown up now as a person and a football player," he said. "I've learned here and there from mistakes."...

Cunningham didn't know he was making history - Tallahassee Democrat
Sam "Bam" Cunningham had no idea he was making history. He was trying only to win a football game and make a name for himself.

All three happened on Sept. 12, 1970.

Cunningham, playing in his first game at the University of Southern California, was the star when his racially integrated team thumped all-white University of Alabama, 42-21, at Legion Field...

...Paul "Bear" Bryant, Alabama's legendary coach, decided in the aftermath of that defeat that he needed to recruit black athletes...

...the USC-Alabama game is regarded as a watershed moment in college sports. Other universities followed...

Also, Face-to-face with a real-life legend - Tallahassee Democrat
More Gray Than Black and White - LA Times

Trojans report: Inside slant - CBS Sportsline
There is something going on at USC that hasn't occurred since September 2003.

The Trojans are trying to recover emotionally from a regular-season loss.

"After going through the film and setting the record straight, we went out and had a very upbeat and fast-moving practice on Monday," said coach Pete Carroll...

..."That's how we march our way back into it. We're not kicking the ground a little bit and scuffling around. The response has been right on the mark and very focused."...

Also, Trojans report: Notes, quotes - CBS Sportsline
Trojans report: Strategy and personnel - CBS Sportsline

[Forde] The Dash breaks out the Adriana rating system - ESPN
...3. Notre Dame-USC (9)...Rating: 4 Adrianas...
Not quite the gigantic event it was in '05, but not far behind. This is another top-five national rivalry, regardless of record -- and the records are good. If both teams get there with just one loss, there could be significant BCS ramifications. Think either side might enjoy knocking the other out of the national championship picture?...

...6. Cal-USC (12)...Rating: 3½ Adrianas...
If the Golden Bears get here 9-1, they'd have a chance to earn their first Rose Bowl bid in 48 years -- at worst. The BCS title game could still be in play. Unseating the four-time Pacific-10 champions would make it even sweeter. Or USC could take a big step toward a fifth straight league title with a win...