"Congratulations to him," says Coach Jim Mora, after UCLA blitzes USC, 38-28.
Glory be it was a fun day in the rain for a football renaissance, Mora telling the student body earlier in the week that he wants to make this house uninviting to the opposition.
Ask USC how it feels today.
The Trojans' band surrendered before the game, the gladiator making no move to stab the ground. And then USC's football team performed as though it had been told by UCLA officials to stay off the grass in the end zone.
A few hours later it's "U-C-L-A," and with gusto not heard around here in a long time.
Mora has a hug for his daughter on the field after the game, hugs for everyone really, before throwing a pair of fists into the air to the soggy crowd.
Off to the right of the tunnel as Mora leaves his House, a fan holds up a sign: "Long Live the New King."
One year ago, Lane Kiffin feels like a king running off the Coliseum field, his team winning 50-0 over UCLA, and a few weeks later Matt Barkley is announcing he will return.
But here we are, Barkley flattened and gasping for breath and fans and columnists calling for Kiffin's job.
The king-crowning business is obviously a tough one. UCLA is 9-2 and I couldn't be more disappointed with the Bruins.
They should be 10-1 as lousy as Cal is, and a case could be made — as I did Sept. 18 on Page 2 — that they should be 11-0, as ordinary as Oregon State might prove to be.
Welcome to the big time.
But it's a process, as Mora says, with maybe what happens following the game's biggest moment the best example of why the Bruins have taken such giant steps.
The Bruins are leading, 31-28, holding the ball or scoring essential as the conditions worsen.
On second and seven from the Trojans' 29, Johnathan Franklin effectively ends the game with a 29-yard touchdown run.
Mora's House goes crazy, Franklin hitting the end zone and running a finger in a slashing motion across his throat.
If it's a USC player doing the same thing I'm not sure Kiffin lifts his head from his play sheet to notice.
