In the shadow of its own goal line, backed up against the cardinal of the USC logo splashed across the end zone, USC's defense faced a goal-line stand of unusual length: six plays.
What followed was a sequence of questionable USC decision-making, of brief flashes of dominant, physical football and a rabbit-out-of-the-hat, game-saving play.
When fourth down finally arrived, from the one-yard line, Stanford coach David Shaw called for a run to the left. On the backside, Stanford left Uchenna Nwosu unblocked. That was by design. The design was flawed. Nwosu tore around the line and lassoed Cameron Scarlett by the ankles.