System of a Down was honored at the USC v. Cal halftime show...Moreover, in a surprise move John Dolmayan performed aerials with the Spirit of Troy marching band!

Celebrities appeared in abundance on both sidelines during USC's 23-9 win over California Saturday.

System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan and bassist Shavo Odadjian joined the Spirit of Troy at halftime.

But the biggest cheers were reserved for actor/comedian Will Ferrell, who had visited the team in August as NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby for a screening of his film "Talladega Nights."

"It's great to see them fight back after a not-so-good first half," said Ferrell, currently starring in "Stranger than Fiction," of USC's late-season surge. "It seems like every week someone different steps forward."

Adam Duritz, lead singer of Counting Crows and one-time Cal student, was hoping to see the Golden Bears claim their first Rose Bowl berth since the 1958 season.

Calling the loss "very disappointing," Duritz was quick to praise how far the program has come under coach Jeff Tedford.

"We used to be a bad team and now we're a really, really good team. It's a pleasure."

-

Though coach Pete Carroll called Saturday's crowd of 91,672 "extraordinary, maybe the best ever," Cal couldn't do the same.

"I don't want to fire the USC fans up, but Neyland Stadium was very loud," Tedford said.

The Golden Bears opened the season at Tennessee with 106,009 in attendance.

"That extra 15,000 makes it a little louder."

-
USC limited running back Marshawn Lynch to 88 yards on 20 carries in what might have been his last Pacific-10 Conference road game, as the junior is expected to leave after this season to enter the NFL Draft.

When asked about his future, Lynch politely said, "I'd rather not talk about that; I'm sorry."

-
USC often used sophomore defensive end Brian Cushing to jam Cal wide receiver DeSean Jackson coming off the line, then employing blanket coverage in the open field.

"They played a safety and corner over the top of me all game, so it was kind of hard for me to get going," said Jackson, who caught two passes for 41 yards.

Tedford said it was the most aggressive any team had defended the former Long Beach Poly star this season.

The Trojans were equally effective at limiting Jackson on punts, as he had only two returns for zero yards.

"It wasn't nothing I didn't expect," Jackson said.

-
USC has now scored 20 or more points in an NCAA-record 62 consecutive games.

Article by Dan Greenspan and Alex Lebow from dailytrojan.com . Credits to ddd for the news and the photos (will be uploaded soon)

Share on Facebook