IMHO Sunday: And down the stretch run they come as Trojans climb to No. 8

In my humble opinion, cardinal and gold thoughts on what I see, what I hear, and what I think from Los Angeles. The stretch run: At some point late Saturday night during your way home from a chilly Coliseum after the new AP No. 8 USC Trojans (6-1 Pac-12, 8-1 overall) survived a fourth quarter rush by the California Bears, 41-35, the thought may have occurred to you that there are now just three 2022 regular season games to go. Simply put, all that’s left begins next Friday night in the Coli against lowly Colorado (1-5 Pac-12, 1-8 overall), but after that the really big finales are upon us, and all indications those two bitter rivals won’t be easy. The stretch run – Part 2: Of course, the “really big finales” we’re talking about are the trip to surging No. 9 UCLA in the Rose Bowl (Nov. 19) and then the regular season climax in the Coliseum against rejuvenated No. 20 Notre Dame (Nov. 26), which may return to the ranked after Saturday’s 35-14 upset and domination of previously undefeated No. 4 Clemson (8-1). It doesn’t get much better or more treacherous than that for these 2022 Trojans, especially when trying to kill two birds with two stones: A Pac-12 title appearance in Las Vegas with UCLA standing in the way and an outside chance for CFP semi-final consideration with the Irish firmly clogging the playoff entrance.