Colorado needs a win over USC but history stands in the Buffs' way

BOULDER – Let’s acknowledge the elephant in the room: Colorado has never beaten the University of Southern California in football.

Over the course of the last 93 years, the Buffaloes have taken on the Trojans 14 times and have never won. USC has outscored CU 484-220.

This Saturday, when the Buffs travel to Los Angeles for a midday matchup, would be a good time to flip the script. Colorado and USC sit atop the Pac-12 South standings. Every other team in the division has a losing record. The winner on Saturday will be the only remaining unbeaten team in the division and would hold the tiebreaker with two games to play.

In short, the winner on Saturday will be squarely in the driver’s seat to take the South Division’s spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Dec. 19.

For Colorado to win, it will have to make history.

“I wasn’t a part of all of the history of the game, in terms of this school playing against USC,” Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell said Monday when asked about the series. “They’re in our South Division. It’s going to be a divisional game that’s going to be a critical game each and every year. That matter of importance is just as important now as it is any year, so we’re trying to keep the momentum of having success and doing the things we need to do to win each and every week. This is the next one up against a very good team and we have to prepare to get ourselves ready.”

Dorrell said what just about any coach would say when asked about the importance of the next game: They’re all important. He didn’t seem at all concerned by the all-time series record.

But has his team talked about the 0-14 record against USC?

“Uhh, absolutely,” starting quarterback Sam Noyer told reporters on Monday.

Noyer has been on the Buffs’ roster for four of the losses, two of which have been decided by four points. This season is his first as the team’s starting quarterback and his first as a leader in the locker room.

On Saturday, during a team meeting, Noyer stood up and addressed his team.

“I said, ‘Hey look, this has never been done in Colorado history,’ and I paused and I said ‘Let that sink in: We have never beat USC,'” Noyer told reporters. “And you could see guys, in their eyes, they were like, ‘Wow, it’s time. We need to do it.'”

It’s safe to say the Buffs are fired up about this opportunity.

“We felt as if last year we could have (beaten USC),” Noyer said. “We had the opportunity to and we let it slip away. This is a really important one for us older guys, but also we’re trying to get that engraved in the younger guys that it’s got to be just important for them as well.”

Nate Landman is one of those older guys. The senior grew up in Danville, California, across the state from USC. His high school teammate, Erik Krommenhoek, is the Trojans’ starting tight end.

“The game is a little bigger in that sense,” Landman told reporters. “We have that rivalry going and that competition going.”

While having a little extra motivation from a personal rivalry doesn’t hurt, Landman doesn’t need it.

“Emotions are going to be high,” Landman said. “These guys have bested me three times and I’m going to do everything in my power to not let that happen the fourth time.”

Those three games are just a small stretch in a long history of USC beating Colorado.

That’s the real motivation.

“I’m excited to get out there with the seniors and make history.”