You left the game early, didn’t you?
Maybe you were thinking the same thing the L.A. Daily News was when it sent out its first edition Sunday morning with the headline, “USC ends Ducks’ streak.”
Maybe you were on the USC bench, celebrating after your team blocked a field goal with 1:20 to play.
Maybe you’ve never been to Autzen Stadium.
That’s the beauty of the Autzen magic: It picks you up, shakes you around, makes you scream, makes you cry, makes you sweat, then hits you with the unthinkable.
Now repeat 23 times.
Coinciding with the last three meetings between the two teams, Oregon and USC battled until the very end Saturday, with the Ducks prevailing thanks to a last-minute, come-from-behind drive in the hands of Joey “Heisman” Harrington.

Despite some un-Joey-like numbers until the final minute, Harrington came up big when his team — and 45,765 adoring fans — needed him the most.
“Joey, for the most part, played very, very well, although his stats may not show that,” head coach Mike Bellotti said. “But his leadership down the stretch is phenomenal and it’s part of the magic that is Autzen stadium.”
Down 22-21, Harrington took the Ducks 61 yards on 5-of-6 passing, setting up a game-winning field goal by true freshman Jared Siegel.
“You can’t get used to stuff like this,” said defensive back Steve Smith, who had three interceptions. “I was a little nervous, but in the back of my mind, I knew the Autzen magic would show.”
Saturday’s gut-wrenching win was much like the Ducks’ 33-30 victory Sept. 27, 1999 against USC at Autzen, when third-string placekicker Josh Frankel put the ball through the uprights in the third overtime.
Anything can happen at Autzen. Don’t say I didn’t tell you so.