This Saturday, in the Rose Bowl, marks the 77th meeting of the premier intra-city rivalry in the country: the UCLA Bruins vs. the Southern California Trojans. It’s Blue and Gold, the “Sons of Westwood.” Cardinal and Gold and “Fight On!”

It’s Showdown in Tinseltown - a rivalry filled with high stakes, big names, and strong passions. The schools, quite naturally, have produced well-known celebrities, such as actors Ward Bond, Marion Morrison – later to be known as John Wayne – Ron Howard and Will Ferrell for the Trojans along with USC Band member, Herb Alpert; Jackie Robinson, later a Brooklyn Dodger baseball great, Carol Burnett, Francis Ford Coppola and Jackie Joyner-Kersee, for UCLA, among others.

The rivalry has a history of pranks and chicanery - such as the year that Trojan students planted dynamite beneath UCLA’s homecoming bonfire, bringing an explosion heard throughout Westwood and Beverly Hills - fortunately, with no injuries, and the time that USC supporters sealed all the doors of a UCLA Sorority House with bricks and mortar.

UCLA pranksters have had their moments, too. They’ve concentrated most of their attacks on the USC Trojan statue, "Tommy Trojan" - stealing his sword, or painting the statue, as they did with a nice Blue and Gold coat in 1941. Then in 1958, Bruin supporters took the battle to a new level, when two UCLA students hovered over Tommy in a helicopter, dropping manure on the warrior. Tommy got his revenge, however, when some of the cow dung was sucked back up into the chopper.

The series, which began in 1929, is one of streaks, with USC dominating the early years. Recently, the Bruins won eight straight from 1991 through 1998, and Southern Cal has taken the last six.

The rivalry raged through the 1960s, with John McKay coaching the Men of Troy, and Tommy Prothro at the helm for the UCLA. USC ruled the first half of the decade, and the Bruins came on strong in the second half, highlighted by the 1967 showdown.

That game found the teams at the top of the AP and UPI rankings as they squared off before 93,000 in the Coliseum, with the National Championship and Rose Bowl on the line and each team having a Heisman Trophy contender - tailback O.J. Simpson for the Trojans and quarterback Gary Beban for UCLA.

Beban’s 47-yard touchdown pass in the 3rd quarter tied the game 14-14, then he followed it up with a second TD throw, and when the point was blocked, the Bruins led 20-14. The lead held deep into the fourth quarter, and with the clock winding down, USC faced a 3rd down and 8 on their own 36-yard-line. The call went to Simpson off left tackle, where he broke free, cut back against the grain, and fled 62 yards for the touchdown. The extra point won it for the Trojans, 21-20, left them No. 1, and sent them to the Rose Bowl.  Beban went on to win the Heisman Trophy, that year; Simpson would win it in 1968. 

The 2006 showdown is similar. USC needs a victory to send them to that coveted BCS National Championship Game - and only the Bruins standing in their way.

And once more it was Showdown in Tinseltown – with the Crystal Ball hanging in the balance – and Tommy Trojan standing guard.

"Saturday afternoons in autumn...a time reserved for one of the most richly colorful, spirited and vibrantly exciting sports in all the world - college football."
    - Richard Whittingman, "The Rites of Autumn"