USC Football: The 10 Best Trojan Performances of the Past Decade

USC quarterback Matt Barkley set a school record with six touchdown passes in Friday's game at Colorado.

That means he passed up guys like Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Mark Sanchez—the list goes on and on. But in a decade where the Trojans played in seven BCS bowl games and won six of them, where does Barkely's six-touchdown day rank among the best?

Let's find out.

10. Matt Barkley's 5 Touchdowns vs. California (2010)

Matt Barkley has thrown five touchdown passes three times in his career at USC. His first and second came in last year's games against Hawaii and California, and the third occurred this year against Syracuse.

The difference between the three games is negligible—18-of-23 for 257 yards and five touchdowns and no interceptions against Hawaii, 24-of-37 for 352 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions against Cal and 26-of-39 for 324 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions against Syracuse.

But the 10th-best USC performance in the past decade goes to the Cal game for two reasons: First, Cal is a Pac-12 opponent and an in-state rival, and second, USC had come off consecutive losses to Washington and Stanford and needed a big game to get back on track. Barkley provided that for them.

9. Matt Leinart's 5 Touchdowns vs. Notre Dame (2004)

In 2004, Leinart threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns against rival Notre Dame. It was this game that made Leinart the unquestionable front-runner for the Heisman trophy that he would win later that year.

This was also the final game in which Reggie Bush was an eligible player at USC. Each win from the remainder of the 2004 season and all of those from 2005 would later be vacated in compliance with NCAA sanctions (props to Richard R in the comments).

But Leinart's memorable domination of Notre Dame is still in the books and so is the Heisman Trophy he won because of it.

8. Robert Woods' 17 Receptions vs. Minnesota (2011)

The list of great USC receivers goes on and on—Mike Williams, Dwayne Jarrett, Keyshawn Johnson, Lynn Swann, Steve Smith—and Robert Woods passed all of them with 17 receptions in USC's victory over Minnesota earlier this year.

Three of those catches went for touchdowns and without them, USC may not have beaten Minnesota. The game ended with a score of 19-17, and Woods had all but one of the Trojans' points.

Matt Barkley's favorite target is having an outstanding year, and by the time he is done at USC, he may own many of the records currently held by USC's all-time greats. 

7. Carson Palmer's 5 Touchdowns vs. Oregon (2002)

In a game that would later have huge Heisman implications, Carson Palmer threw for 448 yards and five touchdowns as his No. 15 Trojans beat the No. 14 Ducks, 44-33.

Palmer's performance in the Oregon game proved to be the crown jewel in a season where he won the Heisman trophy and led USC to an 11-2 record and a win over Iowa in the Orange Bowl.

The Trojans finished the year fourth in the AP poll and started a streak in which they finished in the top five seven consecutive times.

6. Matt Barkley's 6 Touchdowns vs. Colorado (2011)

A lot of people may think this is too high up on the list because it came against an awful Colorado team, but the bottom line is, six touchdown passes is incredible.

Two went to star receiver Robert Woods, another two went to freshman sensation Marquise Lee and the final touchdown passes were caught by receiver Xavier Grimble and running back Amir Carlisle.

Out of all the great USC quarterbacks, Matt Barkley is the only one to throw for more than five touchdowns in one game. That has to be worth something.

With this performance, Barkley raised his touchdown total to 28 on the season. That ties him with Oklahoma's Landry Jones for third-best in the FBS.

5. John David Booty's 4 Touchdowns vs. Michigan in Rose Bowl (2007)

One of the great USC traditions is shellacking whichever Big Ten team it faces in the Rose Bowl.

The first one on this list is John David Booty's four-touchdown game against a Michigan team loaded with future NFL players.

Coming just after USC blew its shot at the national title by losing to UCLA 13-9 in the final week of the season, the Trojans proved why they deserved to be No. 1 by beating Michigan 32-18.

Booty exploded in the second half, throwing the majority of his 391 yards and all four of his touchdowns in the final two quarters. It was then that USC pulled away from Michigan and claimed its second of four Rose Bowl championships in the decade.

4. Matt Leinart's 4 Touchdowns vs. Michigan in Rose Bowl (2004)

Noticing a theme? This time it's sophomore Matt Leinart leading the Trojans to victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

Leinart threw for three touchdowns and caught a fourth in USC's 28-14 win over the Wolverines. It was part of a performance that earned USC the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press' final poll.

While the BCS crowned LSU as its champion, the AP stuck it to the computers and put USC where many thought they rightfully belonged—at the top.

3. Reggie Bush's 513 All-Purpose Yards vs. Fresno State (2005)

He-whom-we-must-shake-our-heads-at turned in one of the most amazing performances in USC history with 519 all-purpose yards against then No. 16 Fresno State during the 2005 season.

This game essentially won Bush the Heisman Trophy that he later gave up due to NCAA violations. He had 294 yards rushing, 68 yards receiving and 46 return yards to set a Pac-10 record. His two rushing touchdowns easily could have turned into four had LenDale White not found the end zone twice as well.

It was a performance that USC needed every yard of to beat Fresno State, as the Trojans barely stayed undefeated with a 50-42 victory.

2. Mark Sanchez' 4 Touchdowns vs. Penn State in Rose Bowl (2009)

The final dominating Rose Bowl performance on this list is one that most likely sent Mark Sanchez to the NFL a year early.

Passing for 413 yards and four touchdowns, Sanchez led No. 5 USC to a 38-24 win over Joe Paterno's No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions.

Mark Sanchez set a Rose Bowl record for completion percentage and significantly drove up his draft value in the process. What followed was a decision to declare for the NFL a year early—which was a choice that Pete Carroll greatly disapproved of.

Would Sanchez be an elite NFL quarterback had he stayed another year? We will never know for sure.

1. Matt Leinart's 5 Touchdowns vs. Oklahoma in Orange Bowl (2005)

Topping the list of best Trojan performances of the past decade is none other than Matt Leinart's five-touchdown domination in the 2005 National Championship Game.

Leinart set an Orange Bowl record and led USC to a 55-19 victory over the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners. This earned them a second straight National Championship and made USC the second team ever to go wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country (the other was Florida State in 1999).

USC has certainly had some memorable performances over the years, and even though this one will have a big asterisk next to it, Leinart's record-setting day earns the top spot among all the rest.