Cardinal and Bold

Chris Carlisle waited, pacing in the predawn darkness on the track at USC’s Cromwell Field.

It was not yet 6 a.m. on a cold February morning. Only weeks earlier, USC had won a share of its first national championship in 25 years by beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl

Carlisle, USC’s strength and conditioning coach, glanced anxiously at his watch. Then he raised his gaze toward the gate.

Will Collins, a redshirt freshman snapper, was the first player through. Others followed, rubbing sleep from their eyes.

“OK, men,” Carlisle said. “Let’s get to work.”

More than six months before its first game of the 2004 season, USC’s run to the Orange Bowl and first appearance in the bowl championship series title game was underway.

The season ended Tuesday night with a 55-19 rout of Oklahoma, securing the Trojans’ second consecutive national title.

These are some impressions from along the way:

Aug. 28

No. 1 USC 24,

Virginia Tech 13

The Trojans’ arrival in the Washington, D.C., area for the Black Coaches Assn. Classic allowed the team to leave off-the-field distractions at home.

Two weeks before the opener, the Los Angeles Police Department announced it was conducting a sexual-assault investigation involving USC players. Running back Hershel Dennis was suspended for violating team rules.

The Trojans also were nervously awaiting a decision by the NCAA regarding the reinstatement of All-American receiver Mike Williams, who had tried to turn pro.

As the Trojans boarded buses on campus for the ride to LAX, word came down from the NCAA.

Williams was permanently ineligible.

Sophomore running back Reggie Bush showed a sellout crowd at FedEx Field and a prime-time national television audience that USC still had college football’s ultimate weapon.

Bush turned three passes from quarterback Matt Leinart into touchdowns. A little more than three months later, the duo would return to the East Coast for another coronation.

*

Sept. 11

No. 1 USC 49,

Colorado State 0

The brochure that USC mailed to season-ticket holders trumpeted the Trojans as “Still the Hottest Ticket in Town.”

Apparently, there is some truth in advertising.

A crowd of 85,521 turned out for the nonconference game against a Mountain West Conference opponent.

Colorado native LenDale White showed off the Trojans’ running attack by rambling for 123 of the team’s 322 yards rushing and scoring three touchdowns.

USC’s defense intercepted four passes, recovered two fumbles and recorded four sacks.

The only time more USC fans left a home opener happier was in 1988, when 86,124 exited the stadium after a 23-7 victory over ... Oklahoma.

*

Sept. 18

No. 1 USC 42,

Brigham Young 10

An enormous Y is painted on the mountain that overlooks LaVell Edwards Stadium at BYU, where USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow spent more than a quarter-century as an assistant coach.

After the Trojans had rolled up 527 total yards, BYU fans could only gaze toward the giant letter and ask, “Why?”

Why did the school ever let Chow get away?

Chow publicly maintained that returning to Provo, Utah, for the first time since 1999 would not be emotional, even though BYU passed him over as Edwards’ successor.

But once the game ended, it clearly was.

Chow turned his attention to preparing for Stanford, a school he would visit again in December as a finalist for the Cardinal head coaching position.

*

Sept. 25

No. 1 USC 31,

Stanford 28

USC players did not know which was more stunning, the 82-yard run that Stanford’s J.R. Lemon scored on to end the first half or the scene in the locker room a few minutes later.

“It was crazy, it was intense,” Leinart said.

It was the turning point in USC’s season.

Spurred by unexpected speeches from gabby senior offensive lineman John Drake and usually reserved junior linebacker Lofa Tatupu, USC overcame an 11-point halftime deficit and won the Pacific 10 Conference opener.

“I just asked for 30 minutes of heart,” Tatupu said. “That’s what we got.”

Said Coach Pete Carroll: “In their minds, their young minds, there was no doubt. The coach might have had a little bit.”

*

Oct. 9

No. 1 USC 23,

No. 7 California 17

California had first and goal at USC’s nine-yard line with 1 minute 47 seconds left, but the Trojans held off the Golden Bears to avenge their only defeat of the 2003 season.

For many, the roar from the sellout crowd of 90,008 at the Coliseum rivaled the noise generated in the venerable stadium during USC’s infamous 55-24 comeback victory over Notre Dame nearly 30 years earlier.

Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers completed his first 23 passes, but could not convert when it counted most. He threw incomplete, was sacked and threw two more incomplete passes in Cal’s final offensive sequence.

After the game, Leinart slumped in a chair in front of his locker. He had completed 15 of 25 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns. But it was almost as if he could sense Rodgers had moved past him for Heisman Trophy and NFL draft consideration.

*

Oct. 16

No. 1 USC 45,

No. 15 Arizona St. 7

USC stayed on track to establish a home attendance record in front of another boisterous sellout crowd that helped the Trojans set the tone from the outset.

Arizona State started the game’s first possession at its 10-yard line and was penalized twice for false starts because of the din. The Sun Devils punted.

“The crowd and the players together played that first series,” Carroll said. “From then on we didn’t look back.”

With flanker Steve Smith sidelined because of a broken leg suffered against Cal, freshman split end Dwayne Jarrett stepped up and caught three touchdown passes.

A serious bout with homesickness had been bothering the New Jersey native. So had the anxiety about comparisons to Williams. USC’s youngest player left the locker room with a different gait. He was growing up.

*

Oct. 23

No. 1 USC 38,

Washington 0

After posting three consecutive victories over previously unbeaten teams, the Trojans came out flat against the Huskies.

It did not matter in a game between programs moving in opposite directions.

USC continued on its way to its first perfect regular season since 1972.

The Huskies kept spiraling to their first losing record since 1976.

Washington fired Keith Gilbertson after the season and hired Tyrone Willingham, the last coach to guide a team to victory over the Trojans at the Coliseum. That occurred on Sept. 29, 2001, when Willingham was at Stanford.

*

Oct. 30

No. 1 USC 42,

Washington State 12

USC players jumped for joy as hail clunked down on their helmets near the end of pregame warmups.

The cold weather at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Wash., offered the only challenge for the Trojans, who led, 14-0, before Washington State’s offense got onto the field.

Bush scored on a 19-yard run and on a spectacular 57-yard punt return.

“I’m a kid from San Diego,” he said, rubbing his hands together for warmth after the game. “I can’t wait to get out of here.”

*

Nov. 6

No. 1 USC 28,

Oregon State 20

Fog enshrouded Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Ore., but Carroll did not mind.

Before the game, he frolicked on the field, playing catch with his son, Brennan, USC’s tight ends coach.

As he caught a ball along the sideline, Carroll said, “This is fantastic.”

He felt the same way when Bush returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to give the Trojans some breathing room.

*

Nov. 13

No. 1 USC 49,

Arizona 9

The Trojans clinched at least a berth in the Rose Bowl -- and also got a glimpse of the scheme they probably would face in the Orange Bowl if they continued on their collision course with No. 2 Oklahoma.

Arizona Coach Mike Stoops, brother of Oklahoma Coach Bob Stoops, was the Sooners’ defensive coordinator before he was hired to resurrect the moribund Wildcat program.

Leinart passed for three touchdowns and White ran for three as the Trojans piled up season-high 585 yards.

*

Nov. 27

No. 1 USC 41,

Notre Dame 10

Rapper-actor-producer Snoop Dogg practiced with USC one day during the week off before the Trojans began serious preparations for their own award-winning production -- otherwise known as the Notre Dame game.

Just as Carson Palmer had two years before, Leinart took advantage of the Fighting Irish and essentially clinched the Heisman, passing for five touchdowns and 400 yards.

Sophomore quarterback John David Booty, who redshirted this season, might want to circle Nov. 25, 2006, on his calendar.

*

Dec. 4

No. 1 USC 29,

UCLA 24

Bush catapulted into Heisman contention with 335 all-purpose yards, including touchdown runs of 65 and 81 yards in USC’s sixth straight win over its cross-town rival.

Senior Ryan Killeen put midseason inconsistency behind, kicking five field goals.

But the image that stands out is that of Carroll, walking down the sideline after UCLA tight end Marcedes Lewis had caught a touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. The play brought the Bruins to within five points, setting up an onside kick.

Carroll shook his head and smiled. In that moment, speculation about Carroll’s eventual move back to the NFL seemed misplaced.

He was enjoying himself. Enjoying the challenge.