Two years ago, Stanford went to the Los Angeles Coliseum as a 41-point underdog against No. 2 USC.

The oddsmakers did the math after looking at the Cardinal’s first three Pac-10 games that season — losses to No. 14 UCLA (45-17), No. 13 Oregon (55-31) and No. 23 Arizona State (41-3).
Oh, and Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard was making his first career start.
Somehow, the Cardinal pulled off a 24-23 victory that still ranks among the greatest upsets in the sport’s history.
“I have good memories,” Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said this week. “Those will be memories that I’m sure I’ll have the rest of my life.”
USC’s Pete Carroll has a different recollection. He places the loss “in a big heap of misery,” along with the others the Trojans have endured in his nine-year tenure.
USC has lost three games in the Coliseum in Carroll’s nine seasons. Two were to Stanford.
Don’t look now, Trojans, but Stanford is coming to town again.
Make that 25th-ranked Stanford this time.
“This is put up or shut up time for Stanford football,” Harbaugh said.
No. 11 USC is an 11-point favorite, and there’s two ways to look at the spread.
1. Stanford is 30 points better than it was in 2007.
2. The oddsmakers haven’t seen the Cardinal or the Trojans play lately.
Last week, Stanford outraced an Oregon team that had chewed up USC one week earlier. Meanwhile, USC stumbled and bumbled its way to an ugly 14-9 victory over seventh-place Arizona State.
Both teams have young quarterbacks. USC true freshman Matt Barkley has the hype advantage, but Stanford redshirt freshman Andrew Luck has better numbers.
Luck ranks ninth in NCAA passing efficiency, one rung below Tim Tebow of Florida.
Barkley ranks 48th, one rung below Rusty Smith of Florida Atlantic.
The Cardinal also have tailback Toby Gerhart, coming off a school-record 223-yard performance against the Ducks. Gerhart averages 135.2 yards rushing per game, second in the nation.
“This isn’t the Stanford of three or four years ago, that’s for sure,” said Arizona coach Mike Stoops, whose Wildcats outlasted Stanford 43-38 on Oct. 17. “This is a very physical, well-coached football team that operates very efficiently. Their kids play very hard and very smart.”
Carroll had little interest in talking about the Cardinal’s last trip to LA. Asked if he would mention the 2007 game to his players, Carroll replied, “No. I won’t bring up the visit to their place last year, either.”
USC drubbed the Cardinal 45-23 a year ago in Palo Alto. Touche.