Humiliation and Frustration

Pain gave way to numbness Saturday.

Anger became disbelief.

Another 21-point lead for USC.

Another loss.

No answers.

USC’s last gasp came on fourth down from Stanford’s 16-yard line on the game’s final play, but Stanford’s Tim Smith intercepted Mike Van Raaphorst’s pass at the seven-yard line and dashed to midfield to keep the Cardinal on the road to the Rose Bowl.

Stanford 35, USC 31.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” tailback Chad Morton said. “We’re playing as hard as we can, but we can’t find a way to win.”

They just found another way to lose.

“I think we have mental problems,” cornerback Antuan Simmons said. “It’s not physical. I’m not tired at the end. We just aren’t making the plays at the end of the game.”

A 21-point lead at Notre Dame became a 25-24 loss last week.

This time, the Trojans took a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring on their first three possessions as a crowd of 57,494 at the Coliseum warmed to the idea of a rout.

But a rout was out, and a comeback was in the cards.

“I’m getting tired of these,” said USC Coach Paul Hackett, who seemed shaken to the core at Notre Dame but sapped of emotion Saturday.

“Once again, we couldn’t finish it,” said Hackett, whose team is 3-4, 1-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference and must win four of its final five games to have a winning record and qualify for a bowl game.

“When you fumble the ball, shank punts, miss field goals, fumble on the five-yard line, that hurts you.”

Stanford, inept at the outset, was triumphant at the end, and the Cardinal is 5-2, and unbeaten in the Pac-10 at 5-0 for the first time since 1970.

It was a game that seemed to march inexorably toward another USC loss.

Stanford made it 24-14 by halftime, then scored two touchdowns in the first 2:11 of the second half to take a 28-24 lead after Chris Johnson’s 30-yard touchdown return of an interception--one of three Van Raaphorst threw while passing for a USC-record 415 yards.

“I don’t care,” said Van Raaphorst, who broke the record of 392 yards Rob Johnson set against Washington State in 1993. “It doesn’t mean anything to me.”

USC had 587 total yards to Stanford’s 456, but Stanford was the last team standing.

“They’d go out and make plays, we’d go out and make plays. We didn’t make them at the end,” Van Raaphorst said. “I don’t have anything to expound upon. If you guys figure it out, let me know.”

USC took the lead back, 31-28, after Van Raaphorst connected with R. Jay Soward on a 64-yard pass play. The touchdown came on the Trojans’ first play after Simmons was credited with an interception that seemed dubious on replays, rolling out of bounds and dropping the ball without having it clearly in his possession.

Stanford reclaimed the lead, 35-31, on a quarterback sneak by Todd Husak four seconds into the final quarter after a USC penalty for defensive holding kept alive a drive that had stalled with a failed third-down play--giving Stanford a first down at the two-yard line.

Twice in the fourth quarter, Soward had what might have been the winning touchdown in his arms on bombs from Van Raaphorst.

The first he never corralled, bobbling the pass as he tried to tuck it away at full speed, finally tumbling as he lost control.

On the second, he was deep in Cardinal territory, but stumbled backward and was unable to catch the ball.

“All I’ve got to say is, if I catch the ball, we win,” said Soward, who sat out part of the game because of a hamstring pull but returned for the final play. “I didn’t catch the ball, and we lost.”

USC blew plenty of other opportunities.

David Newbury missed 36- and 53-yard field-goal attempts, and backup kicker David Bell missed from 52 yards.

Van Raaphorst’s interceptions were costly. One was returned for a touchdown, one killed a momentum swing after USC’s Ennis Davis made an interception, and the other ended the game.

Morton, who rushed for 151 yards, fumbled at the Stanford six-yard line in the first half after a first-and-goal at the eight.

The Trojans had the lead. They knew it wasn’t safe. And they lost it anyway.

“We kept saying, ‘Let’s keep fighting. Don’t sit on the lead,’ ” Morton said.

Stanford, a team with a porous defense that somehow knows how to win, did it again.

“They got behind and didn’t even blink,” Hackett said. “They’re a good team.”

USC did it again too.

“Notre Dame was still fresh in our minds coming out for the second half,” linebacker Zeke Moreno said. “It’s disappointing, and now we’re getting close to the end of the year. It’s going to be difficult to get back on track.

“We’ve gotten together so many times. We thought it was one thing, then it ends up being another thing. We’re at a point where we don’t know what’s wrong.”

For Stanford, everything seems so right.

Even when Husak dropped the ball on a third-down play, it bounced back into his hands and he ran for a first down.

“That was a play we’ve been working on,” Husak joked. “To be a great team, you have to have luck. It was supposed to be a roll-out.

“A lot of people say you make your own luck. The ball seemed to be bouncing our way. Sometimes you make your own luck with hustle--like that play where their guy didn’t really intercept the ball--but you’ve got to take advantage of it.”

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Second-Winded

The 3-4 USC football team has been outscored in the second half of every game except the season opener against Hawaii. The Trojans have been outscored in the second half, 127-83:

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Opponent 2nd Half USC Result Stanford S 21-7 L 35-31 Notre Dame ND 22-3 L 25-24 Arizona A 21-14 L 31-24 Oregon State O 22-14 W 37-29 Oregon O 20-17 L 33-30 San Diego State S 14-7 W 24-21 Hawaii U 21-7 W 62-7

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