Christian McCaffrey breaks Barry Sanders’ 27-year-old yardage record

“What doesn’t he do?” “I pray he wins the Heisman”.

In doubt, that is, to everyone but Martinez and Stanford head coach David Shaw. “The man to my left here is the best player in the nation”. He said. “It’s not even a debate”. McCaffrey added a 10-yard run for a score with 1:38 left. But Saunders did it in 11 games while McCaffrey took the whole season, he finished the game with 3,496 all-purpose yards. “I don’t know if that’s even a question”.

McCaffrey’s importance was demonstrated in the third quarter. Stanford had 29 red-zone snaps in the first half and scored only 13 points, with USC’s Porter Gustin sacking Hogan on a fourth-and-goal rollout.

McCaffrey had 93 rushing yards after the first quarter (USC had 17 yards total) and then threw the touchdown pass to Hogan on a reverse on the first play of the second quarter. That setup a 7-yard touchdown by Hogan giving the Cardinals back the lead 20-16. With a first-time starter at the helm, McCaffrey will get a clear shot to break his own record.

Helton said he would search for a defensive coordinator that would “fit the overall system that we’re looking for at USC, about being extremely aggressive on defense and fitting he personnel we have”. McCaffrey’s 50 yard run setup Stanford’s second field goal of the game.

Sure enough, moments after falling behind, Hogan connected on a 67-yard pass to McCaffrey and then ran it in from five-yards out.

The Cardinal defeated USC at Levi’s Stadium, 41-22, but didn’t get what it needed most – help. Hogan ran it in from there to give Stanford a lead it didn’t give back. Stanford’s Solomon Thomas scooped up the loose football and ran it back for 6 points. “We’ll go where they tell us to go”.

Kessler answered by running for a touchdown that cut the deficit to five points before McCaffrey all but sealed the victory with another touchdown catch. However, USC’s goal-line stand followed by a late scoring drive kept the Trojans in the game. The Spartans bumped Oklahoma to No. 5 and Iowa to No. 6.

USC took the lead in the third quarter, but could not hang on.

“I think I was just able to – I was put in a bunch of situations to be successful, I think”, McCaffrey said. They will not coach in the December 30 Holiday Bowl against Wisconsin, to which the Trojans accepted a bid, and Helton did not declare a timetable for hiring their replacements.

“Everybody’s on this thing about Mount Rushmore”, Shaw said with the quarterback to his right.

The last time they met, on September 19, Stanford won, 41-31, in a game that didn’t feel almost as close.

One day after the Trojans lost to Stanford in the Pac-12 Conference championship game, Helton on Sunday immediately fired four of USC’s nine assistant coaches, including defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox. He plans to hire an offensive coordinator who will call plays, allowing Helton to be “a head football coach and a CEO of a football team”, he said. Christian McCaffrey did it all in a record-setting performance that should send him to NY for the Heisman Trophy ceremony and Stanford to another big-time bowl. USC C Khaliel Rodgers (ankle) did not play and fourth-string C Nico Falah started in his place….

The Cardinal (11-2) captured their third Pac-12 title in four years and presumably will play in the Rose Bowl against a Big Ten opponent.