In a cramped room under Utah's Rice-Eccles Stadium, bundled in a puffy red raincoat, USC football Coach Clay Helton offered an unusual declaration.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of the kids that are in that (locker) room and the performance that they just gave," Helton said.
It was a strange choice of words. USC had just suffered its most painful defeat of the season, a come-from-ahead collapse to Utah in the final minute.
If Helton regretted the phrasing, he didn't show it two days later. Sitting just off USC's campus for his weekly radio appearance, he smiled recounting the game.
"I walked off that field, that was the most fun I've had in a long time," Helton said.
For many USC fans, the quote was jarring, out of step with reality. Fun? The Trojans, owners of a 1-3 record, had sunk to depths they don't typically plumb.
Almost a month later, they have not lost since.
The Trojans' season has developed like a photograph rendered next to its negative. It can be divided into two distinct eras: Before Darnold and After Darnold. Helton's decision to insert Sam Darnold at starting quarterback, replacing the popular and capable Max Browne, has altered USC's trajectory.
USC has improved markedly in almost every significant statistical category since Darnold became the starter. Not all of it can be credited to him, but it marked the beginning of a surge. It began against Utah. Three turnovers and a surprisingly porous defense late cost USC the win, but Helton had caught a glimpse of a bright future.
"As a coach, you've been in it 20 years," Helton explained recently. "They haven't. And you see a team that goes to Utah, the way they prepared, the way they went into that hostile atmosphere and performed and came 16 seconds away, you're like, 'Wow, OK, there moving in the right direction. Now let's don't lose that momentum.' "
