Stanford win erases pain of past defeats


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As co-sports editor of the Daily Trojan, I generally find it quite easy to separate my duties as an unbiased reporter and fan loyalties as a USC student. I usually cover every home football game from the press box as an impartial observer, and don’t take too much pleasure in a Trojan win or experience […]

Kessler’s Christianity brings calming sense


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For USC redshirt sophomore quarterback Cody Kessler, the bright lights of Saturday night begin with Sunday mornings. It’s because before football, before USC, Cody Kessler and his parents would go to church every week in Bakersfield, Calif. In the world of media, Christianity often only appears in extremes, usually “fundamentalists” who constitute the religious right […]

Time for “Stanfurd” to lose this rivalry


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I’ve been consumed. For exactly seven days now, ever since the clock hit triple-zeros in Palo Alto last Thursday to solidify Stanford’s “upset” win over Oregon, I have obsessed over one single thought. I’ve been so gripped by it that I can’t concentrate in class. I watch TV, but my mind drifts back to it. […]

Trojans’ resurgence makes for spectacle


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Two years ago, ESPN’s College GameDay came here for the USC-Stanford game. USC was unranked and on the rise after an early season 21-point loss to Arizona State. Stanford was ranked in the top six nationally, with a vaunted, powerful offensive line and a punishing power attack. This year, GameDay is here again for the […]

Spotlight returns at right time for USC


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With all that’s happened around the USC football program in the past year and a half, it’s at once surprising and to be expected that ESPN’s College GameDay is yet again coming to Los Angeles this Saturday when the Trojans take on Stanford in what will undoubtedly be the biggest game of the season. The […]

Mascot change a symbol of new brand


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USC doesn’t throw out some cartoon, costumed mascot on the football field like many other colleges. Instead, Tommy Trojan rides his noble steed Traveler around the field to pump up the crowd. And the pair often succeeds in rousing the Coliseum after each USC touchdown. The basketball team, however, appears to be going in a […]

November games can determine success


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As the cliché goes, “The games you remember are played in November.” And if you’ve followed USC football — or college football in general — even peripherally for the last decade or so, you’ve heard the stat: Pete Carroll’s USC Trojans were 29-1 in the month of November throughout his illustrious tenure. It actually is […]

Trojans thriving as one big family


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This isn’t a column about Jonathan Martin, the former Stanford offensive lineman whose NFL future remains in question after he left the Miami Dolphins last week after reportedly being bullied by fellow lineman Richie Incognito. This isn’t a column about bullying — I’ll leave that to the psychologists and experts to deal with. Instead, the […]

USC turns a corner against Beavers


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When the clock finally struck zero on the Reser Stadium scoreboard, making official USC’s dominant 31-14 victory over Oregon State, the Trojans’ sideline responded in a manner that it hadn’t in nearly a year and a half — jubilation. Up until Saturday’s win in Corvallis, each of USC’s previous five wins brought about tame responses […]

Win further validates termination of Kiffin


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After a season mired with disappointments and injuries to several of USC’s top offensive stars, I didn’t think it was cynical of me to think that Oregon State would cover against the Trojans as consensus 5.5 point favorites. With the Beavers boasting the best passing offense — at least, by statistical measure — in the […]