USC Trojans head coach Lane Kiffin led his program to an 8-5 record last season, with losses coming to Washington, Oregon State, Notre Dame, then-No. 16 Stanford and then No. 2 Oregon. Three of those losses came by four points or less (to Washington, Notre Dame and Stanford) while the other two came in the form of huge blowouts (a 53-32 loss to Oregon and a 36-7 loss to Oregon State).
By most people's standards, one of those two blowout losses would probably qualify as the team's worst loss of the 2010 season. Not for Kiffin, though: according to a report by the Daily News, Kiffin thinks that last year's 20-16 loss to the Irish was the team's worst of the season.
The rationale? That defeat snapped an eight-game series win streak for the Trojans, a fact that can't be overlooked in such a long-standing intense rivalry.
The Trojans will get a chance for redemption on Saturday when they travel to South Bend. The Irish have rebounded from an 0-2 start with four straight victories while the Trojans have posted back-to-back wins after a disappointing road loss to Arizona State. Both sides will be fired up and ready to play out the next chapter of this intriguing football rivalry.