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Matt Barkley stopped speaking in the middle of his postgame news conference, transfixed by the voices emanating from the Coliseum walls. Back in the locker room, his Southern California teammates were singing the school fight song loud enough to be heard through several feet of 90-year-old concrete.
''I get chills just hearing that,'' the USC quarterback said with a wide-eyed grin.
The No. 9 Trojans woke up those echoes of past USC greats during a remarkable bounce-back season, winning seven of their final eight games to finish 10-2 in the second year of their NCAA postseason ban. Barkley passed for 423 yards and six touchdowns as USC capped its comeback Saturday night with a 50-0 obliteration of crosstown rival UCLA.
The Trojans finished 7-2 in conference play, two games ahead of the second-place Bruins in the Pac-12 South standings.
From Barkley's record-setting brilliance to the defense's first shutout in over three years, the Trojans did it all with the knowledge they wouldn't be rewarded with postseason games - not a bowl, not a trip to the Pac-12's first championship game, nothing at all after Saturday.
Sanctions are keeping the Trojans home in December and January. They can't keep USC fans from getting awfully excited about a promising future.
''We are coming out of the dark,'' said Lane Kiffin, whose 18-7 start at USC has rebuffed many doubts about the brash young coach's abilities. ''This is the only university that could take the hits we have. The majority of the guys who played today are freshmen and sophomores who came here after the sanctions hit. We have a bright future.''
But the Trojans celebrated the present on Saturday night, pulverizing UCLA in their biggest victory over their rivals since 1930. USC athletic director Pat Haden spent the week looking for an allowable way to recognize the Trojans' finish atop the division standings despite their ineligibility - and when they returned to the locker room, they found T-shirts on their chairs reading: ''USC Football 2011 South Division Champions.''
''It's true,'' Barkley said.
USC has been on a roll since October 1, losing only to Stanford in triple overtime. The Trojans finished the year with back-to-back victories over then-No. 4 Oregon and UCLA, the two teams who will play for the league title on Friday. The Trojans never even trailed against either conference finalist.
''We had a lot to play for this year,'' Barkley said. ''We were playing for this university, the history of this program. You're playing for personal pride. You don't want to just flush the season down the toilet. There were a ton of things that we were playing for and that motivated us.''
USC still isn't done paying for the misdeeds cited by the NCAA related to Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Reggie Bush. Although the Trojans' two-year bowl ban ends this year, USC also loses 30 scholarships over the next three years, severely limiting the ability of Kiffin's staff to sign elite talent.
But Kiffin and his staff already have prepared for the limitations through long-term planning. USC spent the past two years signing bumper crops of star recruits and redshirting much of it, putting fewer than 50 scholarship players on the field for many games this season.
Only four seniors started in Saturday's win over UCLA, and the Trojans will lose only about a dozen players who got significant action this season, depending on who goes pro.
''We get to go into houses and recruit without people worrying about bowl games,'' said Kiffin, who vowed his assistant coaches would be on planes Sunday on the way to recruiting destinations. ''Now we get to go into the house with no sanctions. We're going to continue to build this team like we did in the past.''
While Barkley set the Pac-12 single-season record with 39 touchdown passes, receiver Robert Woods broke Keyshawn Johnson's conference record by finishing with 111 receptions in his breakout sophomore season. Woods and freshman Marqise Lee racked up 1,000 yards receiving apiece, giving the Trojans two 1,000-yard pass catchers for just the fourth time in school history.
The Trojans couldn't help wondering what they could do if Barkley and junior left tackle Matt Kalil decide to return for next season, reteaming with Woods, Lee, tailback Curtis McNeal, tantalizing freshman George Farmer and a wealth of young talent.
Barkley, a three-year starter who represented his teammates throughout the sanctions, will decide his future in December, and Kalil said his decision likely will mirror Barkley's plan. Kiffin realizes Barkley is likely to be a high first-round draft pick, particularly after the way he finished the season, and he expects Barkley to depart ''unless he just wants to (return) to be a special Trojan.''
Barkley's final game sure appeared to be a farewell to the Coliseum. After a near-flawless performance, his family joined him on the field for hugs and photographs, and Barkley got up on a stepladder to conduct the USC band, holding the mascot's sword as a baton.
If Barkley is going, he's going in style - bowl or no bowl.
''I have no idea what I'm doing next year,'' Barkley said. ''Tonight is too special to worry about that. We deserve to celebrate this a little bit.''
