Pacific 10 Drought Nearing One Year

Here’s a trivia question that isn’t really trivia: When was USC’s last Pacific 10 Conference victory?

It was against Washington State on Oct. 26, 1996.

Amid the grumbling about the running game and the play-calling and Coach John Robinson, USC fans should make room for some concern about conference pride.

After a 28-21 loss to the Cougars on Saturday at the Coliseum, USC must win at California on Sept. 27 or at Arizona State on Oct. 11 to avoid going virtually a calendar year without a conference victory.

The Trojans’ next home game against a Pac-10 team is against Oregon on Oct. 25.

USC has lost four consecutive conference games--including last season’s defeats against UCLA, Stanford and Washington--and five of its last six games overall.

The only victory in that stretch was the overtime win over Notre Dame in last season’s finale.

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How long has it been since the Trojans have lost five of six?

Not as long as you might think. They lost their final three to UCLA, Notre Dame and Fresno State in Larry Smith’s final season in 1992, then lost two of their first three after Robinson returned in 1993, losing to North Carolina and Penn State with a victory over Houston.

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NEXT FOR USC

WHO: California

WHERE: at Berkeley

WHEN: Sept. 27, 4 p.m.

TV: Channel 7

RADIO: KLSX-FM (97.1)