When freshman tailback Joe McKnight reached the end zone to put USC up by 20 points in the third quarter, USC coach Pete Carroll pumped his fist and hugged his embattled offensive coordinator.
Suddenly, earlier defeats to Stanford and Oregon were distant memories.
Then assistant coach Steve Sarkisian dialed up a pass to senior tight end Fred Davis about five minutes later, also for six points.
Davis jumped onto the bench to hush the crowd and everyone else who said those previous defeats were season-ending.
After demolishing the Sun Devils 44-24 Thanksgiving Day, No. 8 USC (9-2, 6-2 Pac-10) rose to No. 8 in the BCS standings and AP poll, and only rival UCLA stands in its way toward a Rose Bowl appearance. They will no longer require an at-large bid to a BCS bowl game, and they are not at the mercy of ASU or Oregon.
"This was a really, really sweet win," Carroll said. "It's a great statement for our guys; they know now what we're capable of doing."
But don't be fooled; the questioned decisions that led to USC's imperfect record linger and are not forgotten.
"I'm the one that can't get over that, the players are fine," Carroll said. "I don't leave those kinds of things behind me. I don't want to. It keeps me jacked up and pushing and fighting."
But the Trojan players can't seem to forgive themselves either, answering the bell that Carroll said he's been ringing ever since those early season losses.
The USC offense awoke at the very moment its quarterback did. Though he admitted his broken middle finger is still "getting there," senior J.D. Booty accounted for five touchdowns and piled up 375 yards through the air.
"You can't write it any better than the way it went tonight," Booty said.
Carroll called his senior's performance "perfectly timed."
Booty and the offense found every conceivable hole in ASU's simplistic defensive schemes, and ASU defenders had trouble tackling the ball carriers once they got free.
Short passes quickly became long runs. Davis, with 119 yards receiving, was the prime example.
"We've seen Freddie in practice run like he did on that long touchdown play where he just runs through everybody," Carroll said. "You just had the sense, he had so much momentum going, they weren't going to get him."
Davis said he is only concerned with how his last days in college football will end.
"This week I was probably a little more focused than I usually am," he said. "It's coming down to the end."
With Davis' legs churning, the return of offensive linemen Sam Baker, Matt Spanos and Booty, the Trojans may finally be getting up to speed.
"That's what we have anticipated that we can become," Carroll said. "It's just taken us a while to get back to that with all the stuff that's happened."
The USC defensive line, not hampered by as many injuries, may have played to their greatest ability, to the tune of just 16 yards yielded on the ground. And it was crass toughness that got them there, starting at the coin toss.
Senior defensive end Lawrence Jackson, who notched four of the team's six sacks, exchanged words with the ASU quarterback early and often, especially after Carpenter incurred a bloody lip.
"He's a feisty guy," Jackson said. "I just let him know we're going to come after (him) today. Obviously he wasn't too happy about that."
As Carpenter and ASU were shoved aside, the Trojans regained Pac-10 supremacy; and Carroll has been there before.
"I would love to see us finish up this season and make people wonder who is the best team in the country," the coach said. "You can see who we are now, and we'll find out if we can do that one more time."
Reach the reporter at andrew.pentis@asu.edu.
