Trojan Hoarse

"This is like deja vu all over again." Yogi Berra

I'll go ahead and get this over with. The USC Trojans are laying another egg on national television against an unranked Oregon State team. Just like in 2006. It looked like the same game from almost the opening snap. While we have learned since 1974 never to turn off the TV on the Trojans, I am mighty tempted to do just that.

I can't even believe that I've come to expect this every year now. USC was down by 23 points in 2006 before coming back to lose by just two. Last year, they dropped a game at home against Stanford by one point that they were supposed to win by 42. And, now it's half-time up in Corvallis for the Deja Vu Bowl.

Unbelievable.

With a bye week, it's hard to know whether they took the tape of OSU's loss at Penn St. too seriously or if it's just another one of those ridiculous choke jobs they are becoming famous for in this embattled conference.

They sure picked a bad time to cough up this hairball. Except for USC, the league's out-of-conference results for the first three weeks are just horrendous.

Even if USC comes back to win this game -- and, I don't see any reason why they should -- they should not be ranked #1 for having pulled it out. The horrible strength-of-schedule results from all these teams will mean that USC will have no statistical chance of crawling back into the higher rankings. They'll be playing for a chance to go to the Rose Bowl, if they're lucky.

Since I try to live like a cockeyed optimist (although, in 2008, I find it increasingly challenging to do so), I see no other life lesson from this recurring nightmare except to tell young men that they must never take outcomes for granted. In your marriage, family, career, spiritual life, friends, neighbors -- you will be presented with daily challenges and uncertain results. You must "bring it" every day.

Just last weekend, the talented QB Mark Sanchez was asked by the ESPN GameDay Crew if USC was ready to not let these conference games slip up on them, unlike the past few years. Mark confidently said that they were going to "bring the juice" all the time and not let that happen to this edition. Sounds like he already believes in "bring it" and is preaching it to his teammates. Has anyone been listening?

Please pass the juice, I could sure use a swig. I need something to get through the remaining 30 minutes. Maybe a sleeping pill would be better. The painkiller certainly isn't working.