Owen Marecic News

View full size photo>> The 2009 Pac-10 regular season has come to a close and as we all know, between the end of the regular season and beginning of the bowl season is the all-important awards season.

PA Weekly Online Sports Stanford senior offensive guard Chris Marinelli is the leader of the 'Tunnel Union Workers,' an apt allegory for the folks up front who carve out the holes which running back Toby Gerhart winds through en route to big gains.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- In the corner of a half-full stadium, Golden Tate flapped his wings and gums and bounced on his toes.

One night this week, a handful of sweaty receivers played catch in nearly empty Stanford Stadium.

TV: Versus Radio: 810-AM, 860-AM Series history: Stanford leads 55-45-11, but Cal has won six of the past seven meetings, including a 37-16 victory last year.

Stanford's ascension in the Pac-10 this season is almost as stunning as USC's fall.

Top 25 Overview It was over when... Richard Sherman intercepted USC and ran it 42 yards for a score to put Stanford up 42-21. Gameball goes to... Toby Gerhard, who led the Cardinal with 178 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Finally, a Big Game that lives up to its name. This, folks, is what rivalry week feels like in Eugene and Los Angeles and Columbus but something Bay Area fans haven't experienced in nearly 20 years.

As Stanford's new starting middle linebacker, Nick Macaluso will be on the spot in the Los Angeles Coliseum on Saturday, one of the key tacklers trying to contain the USC ground game.

A week after outgunning Oregon, they pulled an even bigger shocker Saturday by handing USC its first November loss in its nine years under Pete Carroll.

Toby Gerhart rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns, and redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck accounted for three scores, as No.

Two years ago, Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh took his team into the Los Angeles Coliseum as a 41-point underdog and won 24-23. This week he'll take the Cardinal down the same path, with a much tighter line and much more at stake.

This is all you need to know about Owen Marecic: He has busted two helmets this season, both his own, from hard hits.

The realities of the new, anything-can-happen-because-it-already-has Pacific-10 Conference seemed to strike Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll with equivalent force Tuesday.

Stanford's Toby Gerhart rushed for a team-record 223 yards and 3 touchdowns in an upset of No.

THIRD QUARTER: The Ducks have outscored opponents 105-46 in the third quarter this season... Jamere Holland again - TD, 39 yards.

Toby Gerhart and Stanford did to the Oregon defense what the Ducks did a week ago to Southern California , opening up the Pac-10 race with a program-defining victory.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller STANFORD, Calf. -- Owen Marecic is going to be interesting to watch today.

Stanford will be without top linebacker Clinton Snyder for the rest of the season.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller If you think Stanford plans to just give it the ole college try Saturday against Oregon, you don't know coach Jim Harbaugh and the mindset he's installed at Stanford.