College Football Rewind: 5 most important games from 2004 season

3. (1) USC 29, UCLA 24

Another USC scare. This time from their hated rivals, the UCLA Bruins. The Trojans never trailed in this game and was in better control than they were against Stanford, but a special teams miscue and a fumble late in the game by star running back Reggie Bush gave UCLA some life, as well as a solid game by starting quarterback Drew Olson.

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USC jumped out to an early 10-0 before UCLA’s Craig Bragg took a punt 96 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 10-7. The Bruins’ defense was no match for Bush, however, as he finished the game with 15 carries for 204 yards and two touchdowns as well as six receptions for 73 yards.

With the game seemingly in hand, Bush coughed up the ball at UCLA’s 14 with 53 seconds left, but the Trojans defense came up with a big interception to officially clinch a spot in the BCS National Championship.

This game is important because if USC had fallen, Auburn would have been playing Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl instead, giving Tommy Tuberville a chance at a national championship and leaving Pete Carroll out again.