The USC Trojans are leaving the Pac-12. They have planned to do so for a long time, but this summer it becomes official. As we say goodbye to the Pac-12, we recall the top moments for USC football against its departing Pac-12 neighbors. When we consider the California Golden Bears, there is zero question about the game everyone remembers the most. There cannot be any debate.
We wrote about the 2004 USC-Cal game:
USC was frankly outplayed for large portions of the proceedings, but Pete Carroll’s defense came up clutch against Aaron Rodgers and the Cal offense, producing a red-zone stop in the final moments to hang on for a 23-17 win. Cal moved the ball effortlessly between the 20s, more than doubling USC’s yardage, 424-205. Cal had 28 first downs to USC’s 12.
Rodgers completed 29 of his first 31 passes, but he then threw three incompletions on first and goal on the defining sequence of the game inside the final two minutes. USC was the better red-zone team in this game, and the Trojans scored a touchdown thanks to a botched punt by Cal. The Golden Bears also missed a field goal and fumbled five times.
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