This is it, you Trojan chumps. Tomorrow is USC-Fresno State, and just to get Bulldog fans nice and pumped up, here's former Bee columnist John Branch's sweet tribute in the NY Times, USA Today's excellent Alan Autry-Pete Carroll profile -- chronicling their cosmic UOP football connection -- and here's one final bit of trash-talking from SportsbyBrooks.com:

COVERED WAGON CONVOY: Fresno State Coach Pat Hill on KMPC-AM in Los Angeles on Fresno fan support this Saturday when the Bulldogs meet the Trojans: "We'll have more than 30,000 people in L.A. for that game and they only gave us 6,000 tickets."

With that in mind, Fresno State's visit is doubly good news for USC fans:

1) A big win for the Trojans over the Bulldogs.

2) Ticket shortfall for Fresno fans means USC alums also get low-cost landscaping work and paint touch-up on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Dr. Doom offers us some perspective: In January 1992 I heard the same trash talk by two people I worked with in Southern California before the Freedom Bowl. They kept calling us Tractor U, Plowboy State, and they said USC was going to run over Fresno State. Their prediction was USC 60, FSU 10. It was just like the prediction by The Sporting News: USC 50, Fresno State 20.

The final score, of course, was Fresno State 24, USC 7. They just crushed the No. 20 Trojans and scored 24 straight points. Do you think Coach Smith of the Trojans was laughing? Not quite: It cost him his coaching job at USC.

My prediction is a win for Fresno State. Final score: FSU 35, USC 21. Bye Bye, No. 1.