The No. 2 USC Trojans won't be the No. 2 USC Trojans when the college football polls are released on Sunday morning, thanks to their 21-14 loss to the No. 16 Stanford Cardinal on Saturday night in Palo Alto. But this is nothing new for the Trojans.

The first Pac-12 Conference road game has posed quite a problem in recent years, even dating back to the years of seven straight BCS bowls. Here is the first conference road game for the Trojans in the last six years:

• 2012: No. 21 Stanford 21, No. 2 USC 14
• 2011: Arizona State 43, No. 23 USC 22
• 2010: No. 20 USC, Washington State 16
• 2009: Washington 16, No. 3 USC 13
• 2008: Oregon State 27, No. 1 USC 21
• 2007: No. 1 USC 27, Washington 24

That's four losses in the last five years in their first conference road game, including three losses when ranked in the top three. Maybe we should have seen this coming.

For more news and notes on USC football, be sure to read Conquest Chronicles.