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The Minnesota Golden Gophers handle the Trojans in a 55-40 win.

The chants of “One more year!” for USC quarterback Matt Barkley began in the first quarter in the USC student section. They grew louder and spread slowly in the second quarter. By the third, they took over the Coliseum. By the time USC put the finishing touches on a 50-0 rout of UCLA Saturday night, you could practically hear the Trojans' rallying cry across Los Angeles.

One more year.

It doesn’t seem like a lot to ask of a 21-year-old college student who has his entire life ahead of him, but it’s an almost impossible request to make at this point.

Barkley put an exclamation point on his Heisman Trophy campaign by completing 35 of 42 passes for 423 yards and six touchdowns against crosstown rival UCLA. It capped a season in which he passed for a school and conference record 39 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

As Barkley stood atop a ladder after the game, wielding a sword and leading the USC Trojan Marching Band in “Conquest,” USC senior linebacker Chris Galippo smiled at the scene and said, “He’s not coming back, trust me.”

Even USC coach Lane Kiffin was convinced Barkley had played his last game at USC when it was over.

“I’m probably not supposed to say this but unless he just wants to do it to be a special Trojan, he ain’t coming back,” Kiffin said. “Who’s playing better than Matt in the country? How do you not draft that kid? He’s going up there in the top five.”

It seemed everyone had an idea of what Barkley would do except for Barkley, who said, "I have no idea what I am doing next year. Tonight is too special to worry about that."

At some point, however, Barkley will have to worry about that. When he does, something tells me he will decide to come back.

I can’t explain it other than to say I’ve been wrong before. I was shocked when Andrew Luck decided to come back this season after Jim Harbaugh bolted for the NFL, stunned when Matt Leinart returned after winning the Heisman and back-to-back national championships, and surprised when Peyton Manning ended up playing his senior year at Tennessee.

When Leinart came back he said, “I think college football and this whole atmosphere here and being with my fans and my teammates ... is ultimately more satisfying and will make me happier than any amount of money could make someone happy.”

Leinart knew nothing in his life would ever be as good as his time at USC. Sure, he would have liked to have beaten Texas in the Rose Bowl and won another Heisman his senior year, but the “Bush Push” at Notre Dame and the memories of his time at USC will forever serve as high watermarks. He would probably trade his last five years in the NFL tomorrow if he could come back to USC for one more year and throw to the likes of Marqise Lee and Robert Woods.

(Read full post)

At the outset of this year, we knew USC quarterback Matt Barkley was going to have a big decision to make come the end of the season. We knew he'd be staring at a potential high selection in next April's NFL draft and weighing that against the possibility of the Trojans making a nice run in 2012.

But we didn't know it was going to be like this, as the stakes involved in Barkley's decision to stay or go have been dramatically raised over the past month-plus.

Now, he has two good choices: (1) Go to the NFL and he's a guaranteed first-rounder, probable top-15 pick and possible top-5 selection, or (2) stay at USC and start the 2012 season in the top 5 nationally with a chance to break every remaining school career passing record.

So, will he stay, or will he go?

Lane Kiffin was doing one of the worst recruiting jobs in the history of college football after Saturday’s 50-0 USC win over UCLA.

He talked about what a lock quarterback Matt Barkley was to get drafted in the top 5 of the NFL draft this spring. He said 90 percent of the players in Barkley’s situation would leave early. Then, he paused for a minute and said there’s only one thing that could bring Barkley back: the chance to be a special Trojan.

Let that one sink in for a minute, Matt.

There really isn’t a financial argument for staying. It probably makes sense to start the millionaire meter when you’re as young as possible. And you can’t really appeal to his competitiveness. By the end of this season, nothing defensive coordinators could do to Barkley seemed to vex him much.

But doing special things for your alma mater is a powerful lure. It will be a powerful lure. Barkley looked like a little kid at a theme park late in Saturday’s game. He ran halfway onto the field and chest-bumped USC’s defense after it stuffed UCLA’s final chance at a score. He threw his arms in the air after completing a pass to his cousin, Robbie Boyer.

Barkley’s dad, Les, was a water polo player at USC. His twin siblings are freshmen at USC.

If he’s playing for some bad or mediocre NFL team next year, think he’s going to hear the word “special” very often?

Soon, Barkley will be rich beyond his wildest dreams. This is his last chance to live a dream.

Welcome to Trojans (and Bruins) Live! Saturday, 7 p.m. PT Set your reminders.
ESPNLA.com's interactive chat from the ESPN staff covering the USC-UCLA game at the Coliseum. Game will be shown on Fox Sports regional network (Prime Ticket).

Matt Barkley predicted USC success as a child and now he faces his possible final collegiate game this weekend against UCLA.

Trevor Matich says the Trojans have had an outstanding year and Reggie Bush needs to tell them why they aren't playing in the postseason.

Shelley Smith talks to USC players about the speedy Oregon Ducks and the challenges of playing in Autzen Stadium this weekend.

LOS ANGELES – This was the kind of game USC would have found a way to lose the last two seasons.

Admit it, even though you probably picked USC to win the game, in the back of your mind you knew this team was entirely capable of mailing it in Saturday afternoon.

Forget for a moment the Trojans were playing former USC offensive and defensive coordinators Steve Sarkisian and Nick Holt, who had led Washington to back-to-back last-second wins over USC the last two seasons.

This was the kind of game even when USC was playing for BCS bowl games would have overlooked with games against Oregon and UCLA coming up to finish the season.

Not only did USC not overlook this game, they looked it straight in the eyes and slapped it upside the head.

USC’s 40-17 thrashing of Washington on Saturday was further proof the Trojans have turned the corner under Lane Kiffin. The rest of the country will not fully realize this as long as USC is on probation and unable to play in the postseason but they will be well aware of it soon enough.

This USC team is more than just a feel-good story after a triple overtime loss to Stanford. They are slowing looking like the team Pete Carroll coached to seven straight BCS bowl games and 11-win seasons.

It’s hard to say exactly when they turned the corner. From most accounts it was after their embarrassing 43-22 loss to Arizona State in Tempe, which was more than just wakeup call for a young team that desperately needed one. It was a game they trailed 21-6 in the first half before storming back to take a 22-21 lead with 4:15 left in the third quarter and then came completely undone.

Since then the Trojans’ offense has scored at least 30 points in every game, their defense has given up 17 or fewer points in four of their last five games, and they have yet to lose a game in regulation (or double overtime for that matter). And, yes, Kiffin is still upset referees didn’t let Andre Heidari, who is 13-for-15 on the season, kick a game-winning field goal in regulation against Stanford.

Almost as amazing as USC’s resurgence after being left for dead after the Arizona State blowout, has been the players who have powered this unlikely rebirth.

(Read full post)

Shelley Smith learns how Marqise Lee and Robert Woods earned their "names", finds out why Steve Sarkisian likes Matt Barkley so much, and the USC band gets in some reps of "Tribute to Troy".

Pedro Moura and Kyle Williams break down Matt Barkley and USC's victory in Colorado.

Welcome to Trojans Live! Set your reminders.
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ESPNLA's Shelley Smith puts on the hard hat to check out the new USC Football construction facility, and finds out if it will be enough to bring back Matt Barkley for his senior season.

LOS ANGELES – On a clear October night at the Coliseum, the storm clouds that had been hovering over the USC football team for the past two years momentarily drifted into the distance.

They are not entirely out of sight, of course. They will be around the program for the next three years while the team is on probation, but for one night anyway, it was hard to hear the rumbling over the sold-out crowd or see the lightning past every one of USC’s touchdowns.

History will remember this game as a 56-48 win for Stanford in triple overtime. Box scores have a way of condensing big moments like that. But if Lane Kiffin’s tenure at USC turns into anything more than just another line on his ever-growing resume, this game will be remembered as more than just another loss on his record. It will be remembered as a turning point.

Kiffin has been preaching to his team to believe in his system, trust the high-paid assistants he has assembled and in time they will once again be contenders.

It has often been easier said than done. Especially after a blowout loss to Arizona State earlier this season and an 8-5 record last season where the team lost five-of-eight games towards the end of the season. Yet, following a 43-22 loss to Arizona State on Sept. 25, USC defeated Arizona, blew out Cal and beat Notre Dame to the point of submission before nearly upsetting Stanford in a game it led 34-27 with less than a minute and felt it should have won in regulation before being denied an opportunity to kick a game-winning field goal. It wasn't until Curtis McNeal fumbled the ball into the end zone during the third overtime that USC's dreams of upsetting the Cardinal were dashed.

“If you’re going to play a team that has the longest winning streak in the country and has beaten everybody by over 25 points and you go down to a game that could have gone either way,” Kiffin said. “You have to be pleased with where your team is at.”

There were no moral victories for the USC players after the game as they left the Coliseum. This was the type of game and the type of atmosphere they came to the school for. The 93,607 in attendance was the largest crowd at the Coliseum since USC played Ohio State in 2008. And unlike they have over the past three seasons, most of the crowd stayed until the end of the game -- raising the roof for every one of USC's 48 points and swaying back and forth after every touchdown.

“It was great to have that back,” Kiffin said. “That’s been gone for a while, the feeling that was there tonight. Unfortunately we didn’t finish for them.”

There was a glazed look on Matt Barkley’s face as he sat outside of USC’s locker room, waiting to talk to the media. Normally the USC quarterback is still in his uniform when he talks to reporters but he had quickly changed into his warm-ups and stared into the distance before he was called to address the media.

For the better part of the last two seasons, he and his teammates have been left to fight someone else’s battles, answer someone else’s questions and serve someone else’s punishment. When he was at Mater Dei, dreaming of becoming USC’s next quarterback, he envisioned playing in front of sold out crowds at the Coliseum, facing top-five teams and contending for a national championship.

For one night, he felt he had a chance to experience that, even though his team is not eligible to play in a bowl game. If this turns out to be his final year at USC, this game will likely be remembered as the high-water mark of his time at the Coliseum.

“This was the most energy I’ve felt at the Coliseum, it was electric,” Barkley said. “I’m just bummed we couldn’t give them a win.”

The battle cry at USC is “fight on.” It’s a simple two-word phrase that students and alumni alike say to one another all the time. They say it so often that the meaning may get lost. While this year's team will not be remembered at Heritage Hall years from now with any trophies or awards, few teams in this school's history have embodied the spirit of that motto quite as well.

It was evident in the way Nickell Robey returned Andrew Luck’s interception for a 36-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Or the way Randall Telfer broke through tackles and dove for the pylon in overtime. Or the way Marqise Lee fought for every last yard in the third overtime and had to be helped off the field afterwards.

This young team with seemingly nothing to play for has continued to fight on this season because that’s what they’re supposed to do, whether or not there is a bowl game waiting for them at the end of the season.

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