THE FALL OF TROY TEXAS QUARTERBACK RALLIES TEAM TO 41-38 VICTORY, NATIONAL TITLE.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

PASADENA - So foreign, so completely distant to everything USC had known.

A wonderful run, another strong comeback and it ended in defeat. Ended with the Trojans on the wrong side of the score for the first time in 35 games.

It had been so long since USC felt the sting of a loss, it must have taken a moment to seem real. There had always been a USC answer, a final drive, a dramatic play, another victory.

Only on this night, USC finally was not the best team. With the national championship on the line, with an energized Rose Bowl sellout of 93,986, it was Texas that left the field Wednesday night with a 41-38 victory.

The clash of unbeatens did not disappoint. It was all that was hoped for, with the stars shining, with dramatic plays, with hearts stopped.

The Rose Bowl rang with ``the eyes of Texas are upon you'' when it finally ended, not ``fight on.'' It was the Longhorns, not the Trojans, who held the BCS trophy aloft.

USC's quest to become the first team to win three consecutive national titles ended with the Trojans grasping at air when it should have been brilliant Texas quarterback Vince Young.

A nervous, tense game between the top-ranked teams in the country deserved a dramatic finish. Only it was Young and Texas that delivered the theatrical ending, not USC.

With the Trojans clinging to a 38-33 lead with 26 seconds to play, the Longhorns were down to their final offensive play of the season.

Fourth down with 26 seconds to play at the USC 8-yard line. The game, the season, the national championship on the line.

Young scrambled around the right side and went untouched into the corner of the end zone.

And it was over, USC's great run, the Trojans' remarkable reign in college football.

``It really hasn't hit me yet, to tell you the truth,'' USC coach Pete Carroll said after the game.

It may take time for it all to be absorbed, for defeat to actually sink in and feel real.

USC trailed 16-10 at the half. Little was going right. Opportunities were missed, the ball turned over. Quarterback Matt Leinart was off, the receivers couldn't get open, both lines struggled, Young riddled the USC secondary.

But USC had trailed three times before during this season and come back, had found a way to pull out one more victory.

And the Trojans seemed on target again. They came out strong in the second half, they scored on five consecutive possessions, built a 38-26 lead midway into the fourth quarter.

Yet at no time did the Trojans ever look like they could stop Young. Defense had been the question with USC all season, and more often it had enough of an answer.

Powered by an offense led by Heisman winners Reggie Bush and Leinart, the Trojans had what was considered one of the greatest offenses in college football history.

The Trojans had to outscore the Longhorns to win, and briefly it appeared they would.

LenDale White scored three touchdowns. Bush managed one more dive into the end zone. Dwayne Jarrett reached the ball into the end zone for a final USC touchdown.

There was 6:42 left to play, and against a Texas team that had effectively used a no-huddle offense all night for quick scoring drives, it would ultimately prove 19 seconds too long.

Young scored on a 17-yard run for his third touchdown. On the night he rushed 19 times for 200 yards, and completed 30 of 40 passes for an additional 267 yards.

``He's so unique,'' Carroll said. ``He's the X-factor. You never know what he's going to do.''

USC took the ensuing kickoff and started driving.

But on a night of big plays, a final big play went against them.

Faced with a fourth-and-2 at the Texas 45 with 2:22 to play, Carroll elected to go for the first instead of punting.

USC hadn't been able to stop Young all night anyway so it screamed to Carroll to be the proper gamble.

``If we make that first down, we win the football game,'' Carroll said.

The handoff went to White, who rushed for 124 yards on the night.

He was stopped a yard short, maybe one foot.

That was all the opening Texas needed. Young drove the Longhorns down the field and had the same kind of final answer that USC had used to defeat Notre Dame earlier this season.

``It was a championship night in all ways,'' Carroll said. ``Texas did a wonderful job all night long.

``If you had to step aside for somebody, that was a great team to do it for.''

A night of explosive offense ended with Texas ultimately finding a way, not USC.

``We never really felt we would lose the ballgame,'' said Texas coach Mack Brown.

It was a game in which it looked like whoever had the ball last would win. And winning was all USC had known for so long.

It has been an incredible run for the Trojans. They fell three points short, but they still have something special going on.

``The challenge now is to show what we're really made of and get it going again,'' Carroll said.

Leinart will graduate. Bush is expected to leave early, and White could join him.

But they will leave with something new in defeat, something that ultimately will not feel foreign.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Vince Young of the Texas Longhorns scores the winning touchdown Wednesday during the Rose Bowl against USC. The Trojans had a 12-point lead with six minutes to play in the fourth quarter.

Harry How/Getty Images

(2) USC players struggle to bring down Selvin Young of Texas during the first quarter of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Wednesday. Texas ended the Trojans' 34-game winning streak with a 41-38 victory.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(3) USC fans Joelle Johnson of La Jolla and Laila Santos of San Jose show their support for the Trojans before the game in Pasadena on Wednesday.

Will Lester/Staff Photographer