In 2002, USC had already beaten UCLA three straight times from 1999 through 2001. However, the Trojans had not yet announced themselves as a proud college football program which was fully back on the map.
Against UCLA and then versus Notre Dame in those final weeks of the 2002 season, USC stamped itself as a team which was here to stay … for the next seven years.
No one needs an explanation of the Pete Carroll era at USC. It was a magical time with very few down moments. UCLA did provide one of those moments in 2006, but aside from that very rare and painful exception, USC enjoyed itself.
Relive some USC-UCLA memories from the first decade of the 21st century with these images from our photo library: