Trojans' Second Drop This Week

After the Trojans' plummet in the polls following the loss to Stanford and the release of the first BCS poll, many thought the team couldn't or wouldn't drop any further.

Not so, as the AP is reporting that a chartered plane with 82 players aboard, headed to Indiana for tomorrow's Notre Dame game experienced an extreme drop while flying through a severe thunderstorm. Weather was so bad that the pilot had to abandon his first landing attempt.

Fullback Stanley Havili, pictured here against Arizona, said, "That was terrifying. I thought I was going to die."

While everyone walked away from the eventual landing, the injury plagued Trojans suffered another sting when defensive end Lawrence Jackson pierced the inside of his mouth with a Popsicle stick, during the drop. No word from the trainers, but the hope is that this won't keep Lo-Jack off the field tomorrow.

Though the fall was scary for all involved, USC remains at 14 in the BCS poll and is ninth in both the Coaches and Harris polls.

USC v. Notre Dame
Saturday, October 20
12:30pm PDT
NBC

Photo by AP/Mark J. Terrill