USC vs. UCLA: Trojans marching band won't stab midfield at Rose Bowl

The USC Trojans released a statement on Tuesday to announce that the school's drum major will discontinue the practice of stabbing the Rose Bowl field before the rivalry game with the UCLA Bruins this weekend. The move comes after UCLA athletic department requested that the act be taken out of the bitter Los Angeles area rivalry.

Trojan marching band director Arthur C. Bartner released the statement and said the decision was made in "the spirit of cooperation and sportsmanship." He added that the schools have "suspended" the tradition for the time being.

Said Bartner in the release:

"It is important to protect a great rivalry and to conduct it in the most mutually respectful way possible," Bartner said.

This is not the first time UCLA has been openly uneasy about the act.

According to the Los Angeles Times, UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero asked the Pac-12 to remove a clip of the field stabbing at the Rose Bowl from its marketing campaigns in 2011. The Pac-12 did indeed pull the clip and reedited versions of Pac-12 videos that included it.