SCliff Notes: Holiday Bowl Can Set Steve Sarkisian Right and More USC Football News

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1st & 10:

Holiday Feelings… There’s been a lot of talk of “must-win” games for USC in 2014, but there’s a particular weight to the Trojans’ upcoming Holiday Bowl tilt with Nebraska.

It’s not that Steve Sarkisian will lose his job is he loses the game, because he won’t. It’s that Lane Kiffin might have saved his job with a more palatable showing at the Sun Bowl in 2012. That the game in El Paso didn’t just cap off a bad year in a horrendous way, it demonstrated everything that people didn’t like about Kiffin. Lack of preparation. Lack of adjustments. Stubbornness.

Those are criticisms already given to Sarkisian in year one and a loss would only bold the letters on those words. All the goodwill earned with a blowout out win over a reeling Notre Dame would be wiped away by a loss to a presumably-reeling Nebraska.

It’s all about momentum and good feelings. Two things utterly obliterated when the Trojans took the field at the Sun Bowl. Both things USC needs more than ever as recruiting season and NFL draft choices loom ahead.

In Other News…

• We took a quick look at the 2014 Holiday Bowl between USC and Nebraska including the all-time series, key match ups and big story lines. (Reign Of Troy)
• One Holiday Bowl preview isn’t enough? Here’s another from Erin Sorensen. (Bleacher Report)
• And another from Kyle Bonagura and Mitch Sherman (ESPN)
• And yet another from Julian Lopez (Conquest Chronicles)
• Michael Lev has some notes on USC’s Holiday Bowl match up as well, but he also covers Justin Wilcox’s thoughts on his potential pursuit of the Oregon State opening. (OC Register)
• More from Lev, Cody Kessler is exploring his NFL options while Max Tuerk has already made his decision to come back and finish his degree. (OC Register)
• Outside all the bowl talk, USC took to the practice field Sunday morning with praise-worthy showings from Max Browne and other lesser known players. (Reign Of Troy)
• USC jumped back into the AP Poll at No. 24 this week despite being inactive over the weekend. (Reign of Troy)
• The hardcourt men of Troy strung together their fourth win in a row Sunday, with an 89-84 victory over Utah State. Sarah Bergstrom has 3-points on the win. (RipsIt Blog)
• A different streak came to an end Sunday as USC’s men’s water polo team fell to a late goal against UCLA, missing on their bid to win a seventh straight national title. (USC Athletics)

Stat of the Day:

USC and Nebraska’s only shared opponent this season was Fresno State. The Trojans beat the Bulldogs 52-13. The Cornhuskers also won 55-19.

Tweets of the Day: