TROJANS AVOID A LETDOWN.Byline: Kevin Modesti Staff Writer SEATTLE - In a psychological reverse play, USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. coaches screened a videotape for the players at the team hotel Friday night, showing the Trojans' locker-room celebration after their victory at Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame . And you thought the Trojans intended to fight off a letdown in Saturday's game at Washington by forgetting the excitement of South Bend South Bend, city (1990 pop. 105,511), seat of St. Joseph co., N Ind., on the great south bend of the St. Joseph River, in a farming and mint-growing region; inc. as a city 1865. , Ind., as quickly as possible. ``(Coaches) wanted us to look back at the commitment from that game,'' said flanker Steve Smith. ``Guys were hugging each other and telling everyone that they loved them. They just wanted us to get that feeling back.'' Every week a new psychological pitfall pit·fall n. 1. An unapparent source of trouble or danger; a hidden hazard: "potential pitfalls stemming from their optimistic inflation assumptions" New York Times. is said to await the Trojans. Every week they find a way to make all of that talk sound silly. Saturday, amid concern that they'd come out flat, the Trojans came out and scored on their first five possessions on the way to beating Washington 51-24 at Husky Stadium
. It wasn't a spotless afternoon, the defense allowing Washington its first 10-point opening quarter this season and the special teams giving up a 92-yard kickoff return. But the record remains perfect, 7-0 this season, 29 wins in a row. Coach Pete Carroll Peter C. Carroll (born September 15, 1951, in San Francisco, California) is the current head coach of the University of Southern California Trojans football team, having held that position since 2001. began the week by warning the Trojans about the possibility of an emotional slump after the Notre Dame game that ended with Matt Leinart Matthew Stephen Leinart (born May 11, 1983 in Santa Ana, California) is an American football quarterback (QB) for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He played college football for the University of Southern California Trojans, leading them to an AP national diving and twisting for the winning touchdown from 1 yard out in the final seconds. The Trojans were 30-point favorites over Washington (now 1-6). ```We talked about it all week,'' Carroll said outside the Trojans' locker room late Saturday afternoon. ``We wanted to respond to the challenge of playing our style and our philosophy regardless of where, who, when (they were playing), that kind of stuff. And we did that. ``Our concentration was great. Our execution was very good.'' ``Our past couple of games have been pretty close, especially the Notre Dame game,'' tailback Reggie Bush said. ``We definitely felt like this was a game where we could go out and dominate and just get back to executing and playing football like we know how. Playing at our level and not the other team's.'' |
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