USC ready to bounce back at Stanford

So this is what losing feels like? Consider that USC's third-year players hadn't experienced a regular season loss during their careers until the 33-31 defeat at Oregon State. Most fourth-year players only vaguely recalled the triple-overtime loss to California in September of 2003. Of course, coach Pete Carroll wasn't ready to get spiritual and ponder the experience of his first regular season failure in 41 games. "We're certainly not going to be sitting around kicking the ground," he said.

• The lone positive coming out of the game was quarterback John David Booty proving his resilience after nearly leading the Trojans back from a 23-point, third-quarter deficit. He completed 24-of-39 passes for 406 yards, the biggest production in the Pac-10 this season, with three touchdowns and one interception. His 16 touchdown passes and five interceptions matches Matt Leinart's numbers from a year ago after seven games, and Booty now ranks second in the conference in passing efficiency (140.6). "He had an incredible game last week," Carroll said. "He certainly answered the call."

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