USC Football: Will Cal Game Be a Replay of the Arizona State Debacle?

For a Trojan fan, the similarities are disturbing.

USC embarks on the road after another home victory to meet an opponent they have had their way with for years.

Two-and-a-half weeks ago it was a trip to Tempe to play the Arizona State Sun Devils, a team they had beat uninterrupted for over a decade.

No need to rehash how that worked out, eh followers of Troy?

Now USC looks to capture that first elusive road win this Thursday at AT&T park in San Francisco against another team they have spent over a decade dominating.

The Trojans haven't lost to the Bears since 2003 and overall, they have had their way with Cal coach Jeff Tedford's boys.

But this isn't the powerhouse Trojans of yore.

As evidenced by the debacle in the desert against the Sun Devils, a win of any sort, much less one on the road against a motivated opponent, is not a given with this year's edition of the Trojans.

This year, with the exception of the Syracuse game, whom the Trojans were obviously more talented than, the defense and offense has spent equal time being inconsistent.

Lately, it has been the defense who has been the goat by giving up yards and points in alarming bunches.

Of course, Cal doesn't quite present the challenge that Arizona State did.

Sporting a 3-2 record so far in 2011, the Bears have lost their last two against Washington and Oregon, but both of these are good teams, and that is especially true of the Ducks.

And it should be noted that Cal was leading at halftime 15-14 before yielding big time in the second session.

It should also be noted that the Bears are young and still learning.

Kind of like the Trojans are.

Because of this, nothing can be taken for granted when USC ventures north to play in that beautiful stadium by the bay.

At any time USC is capable of tossing in a clunker on either side of the ball. Or perhaps even both sides of the ball.

So will the Trojans lose this Thursday night against the Bears?

Probably not, but it doesn't carry the certainty it once did.

And for Trojan fans, that is the real shame of it all.