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Or six ad-trailing planes and a blimp that constantly circled above, or ABC television, which bumped a Rose Bowl decider between Stanford and California in favor of the battle for Los Angeles football supremacy.

Or the thousands of fans who stormed the Coliseum field after USC ended its eight-game losing streak over UCLA with a 17-7 victory. Intimate followers of this series for half a century could not recall such a tidal wave of emotion after a Trojans-Bruins game.

"I'll tell you what," said USC coach Paul Hackett, "that was something special."

Meaning it's a bit more likely that Hackett will earn most of the final three years of his contract. Unfortunately for the city, the football season is not over, since dangerous Louisiana Tech quarterback Tim Rattay visits the Coliseum on Friday.

For both USC and UCLA, the season has been typified by injuries and pitiful inconsistencies. Based on the fall camp pecking order, the Bruins started fourth-stringers at quarterback and center. Others dropped the ball big-time on Saturday.

The Trojans seemed to be as disciplined as sailors on leave all year, which they did nothing to dispel Saturday with 16 penalties for 126 yards. Eight of those were false starts by the edgy offensive line, and three of those took place on one first-half series.

More than 90,000 people in Southern California had nothing better to do. Then again, it wasn't exactly a beach day, since murky skies barely made the famous Hollywood sign visible to the north.

And in one case, the game was special. Only once since World War II had both teams finished below .500, when the epic 15-15 tie of 1958 dropped USC to 4-5-1 and UCLA to 3-6-1. The only other time that happened was 1940, when a 28-12 victory by USC shot the Trojans to 3-4-2. The Bruins won only one of their 10 games that year.

By winning on Saturday, UCLA (4-7, 2-6 in the Pac-10) could have clinched that outcome for a third time in the 70 games of the rivalry. Instead, it's up to Louisiana Tech to slap that ignominy on 5-6 USC.

That's why Jabari Jackson, a senior tailback from San Francisco, declined to toss his No. 27 jersey at a screaming young fan from the stands.

"No, no," Jackson said. "I've got to use it next week."

Jackson was involved in perhaps the most critical play of the game. Cradling a 10-7 lead at the end of the third quarter, USC lined up for a field goal on a fourth-and-8 from UCLA's 26-yard line.

Sensing that something wasn't right, Bruins coach Bob Toledo called his first timeout of the second half. The defense zipped to him, and he warned them about a fake. Being a master trickster himself, Toledo figured this would be the perfect time and place for such a call.

The Bruins ran back onto the field, and they kept yelling to each other to watch for the fake. Jackson and other Trojans heard the squawking, then watched the Bruins scramble as quarterback John Fox, the holder and hopeful elementary-school teacher, rolled right to hit Jackson with a pass for a 17-yard gain.

"I mean, they called a timeout," Jackson said. "They had a feeling. Then we heard them yelling, 'Watch the fake! Watch the fake!' But they weren't ready for us, and they couldn't stop us."

According to Hackett, Fox and Jackson started working on that play in fall camp and had practiced it "about 100 times" the last three months. The Trojans pondered using it twice during the season, but decided against it both times.

"We needed a spark," Hackett said.

"A great call," Toledo said. "It was well-executed. Those are the types of things that turn games."

Running into the kicker does the same thing. The Trojans gained only four yards on their next three plays, but UCLA safety Ryan Roques nudged the foot of USC kicker David Newbury on his short field goal for a new set of downs.

A dive by Chad Morton, whose older brother Johnnie was instrumental in USC's last victory over UCLA in 1990 at the Rose Bowl, gained only one yard. Then the Trojans line was flagged for its eighth false start in a bit more than three quarters.

Fox, who went from the starting quarterback to tight end to linebacker before finding himself back in the pocket as the starter two weeks ago, followed that with a lob to freshman receiver Kareem Kelly for a 7-yard touchdown connection for the final points.

According to replays, it was highly questionable that Kelly dragged his left foot inbounds as he made the reception.

"This year, for us ... don't even start talking about calls," Hackett said. "Wow!"

Halfway through the first quarter, UCLA tailback DeShaun Foster tried diving inside USC's 20 when he was met by a gaggle of Trojans. Sultan Abdul-Shaheed ripped the ball out of Foster's hands and dashed 78 yards before Bruins quarterback Ryan McCann jumped on him.

However, contrary to replays, referee Jim Sprenger ruled that Foster was down.

USC wasn't hurt by that, though, because McCann had a pass intercepted by Trojans linebacker Zeke Moreno two plays later. Moreno tipped it and then caught it in the middle of the field, with UCLA receiver Freddie Mitchell at least 10 yards behind him.

Three plays later, USC receiver R. Jay Soward fumbled to the Bruins. But McCann gave it back on UCLA's next play. That's two picks in 73 seconds.

That's entertainment.

USC even took the opening drive of the second half down to the UCLA 1 before Fox was sacked for an 11-yard loss. Then a third-down pass fell incomplete, the Trojans line -- guess -- was called for a false start and Newbury shanked a 34-yard field-goal attempt to the left.

And locals are awaiting the expansion Avengers of the Arena League to begin play next spring in Staples Center with bated breath. They saw the same kind of action today.

"This is a big deal," Hackett said. "It's not just another game. This is a monster. I don't care what you do, you better win this game and you better do it in a classy fashion."

The classiest part of the day arrived when Hackett was handed the second annual Jim Murray Trophy, named after the late, great Los Angeles Times sportswriter.

Hoisting the gold-plated football to the heavens and a sea of applause and yells as he ran up the southwest tunnel of the Coliseum, Hackett looked more like a newly crowned king than an embattled football coach fighting to finish with a .500 record this season.

That's Hollywood.