2007 Stanford Cardinal football team The 2007 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the college football season of 2007 – 2008 . In Head Coach Jim Harbaugh ' s inaugural season at Stanford , the 41 - point underdog Cardinal pulled off the greatest point - spread upset in college football history by defeating the # 1 USC Trojans in a mid - season game ( USC had been ranked No . 1 in all national pre - season polls , picked unanimously to win the Pac - 10 Conference , and expected to contend for a national championship - until the Stanford upset ) . To cap off Harbaugh ' s first season , the Cardinal defeated archrival Cal in Stanford ' s final game of the season to win the Stanford Axe for the first time in six years ( aside from these two huge rivalry wins however the Cardinal went 2 - 8 ) . The team played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford , California and competed in the Pacific - 10 Conference . The Cardinal improved on their 1 – 11 record from the 2006 season by going 4 – 8 in the 2007 season . Game Summaries . UCLA . In Jim Harbaugh ' s debut game as Stanford ' s new head coach , UCLA ' s offense amassed 600 yards and overwhelmed the Cardinal defense in the second half , as UCLA won handily . UCLA ' s Ben Olson threw 5 touchdown passes and finished 16 – 29 for 286 yards while fellow Bruin Kahlil Bell led the running game by gaining 195 yards on 19 carries . This individual performance was the 18th best single game rushing performance in Bruin football history , placing Bell right after Freeman McNeil , who had 197 yards against Stanford in 1979 , and right before Gaston Green , who had 194 yards against Tennessee in 1985 . USC . The struggling Stanford Cardinal continued Pac - 10 play by playing the USC Trojans in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum , where the Trojans had not lost in six seasons . In a major upset , USC stumbled at home to the 41 - point underdog Cardinal , losing 24 – 23 . Harbaugh made headlines prior to the season by claiming 2007 would be USC Coach Pete Carroll ' s last year with the Trojans before departing to the NFL , drawing a terse rebuke from Carroll ; Harbaugh later called the 2007 Trojans one of the best teams in the history of college football at Pac - 10 Media Day , reiterating the position in the week before their game . However , there were no hard feelings between the coaches . The two kept in cordial phone contact and Carroll made light of Harbaugh ' s comments several times during the season . Stanford ' s starting quarterback , redshirt senior T . C . Ostrander , suffered a seizure on the afternoon of September 30 , one day after the game against Arizona State ; he was released from Stanford Hospital after a few hours , but as a precautionary measure he was held out of the game against USC . The starting quarterback position fell to Tavita Pritchard , a redshirt sophomore with three passes in his college career . Stanford was also without two other key starters : defensive lineman Ekom Udofia ( ankle ) and offensive lineman Allen Smith ( knee ) . On October 3 , it was announced that USC running back C . J . Gable , who was averaging a team - best 11 yards a carry , would undergo season - ending abdominal surgery to correct a nagging sports hernia that had limited his ability since the previous season ; because he had only played in the first three games , he would seek a medical redshirt season . Gable ' s fellow running back , Stafon Johnson , was also held out of the game due to a foot bruise suffered the previous week . Stanford was the last team to beat USC at the Coliseum , doing so on September 29 , 2001 under Tyrone Willingham ( who had since become the coach of Washington ) against then - first - year coach Carroll . By game week , the line for the game favored the Trojans by 39 . 5 points , and reached 41 points by gametime . The loss ended multiple USC streaks , including a five - game win streak against Stanford and a 35 - game home winning streak . For sportsbook s , the loss to a 41 - point underdog marked the biggest upset in their history . There were a few positive efforts for the Trojans : Tight end Fred Davis caught five passes for a career - best 152 yards , including a 63 - yard touchdown ; and nose tackle Sedrick Ellis had three sacks . However , there were many more errors and substandard performances : quarterback John David Booty , who broke a bone in the middle finger of his throwing hand in the first half , had four passes intercepted in the second half . The offensive line had been suffering since losing two starters in one play during the previous week ' s game at Washington , but the effect was severe against Stanford ; the offensive line gave up four sacks , one more than the Trojans had surrendered all season , and USC gained only 95 yards rushing . Key receiver Patrick Turner dropped several passes , the defense gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter and USC had an extra - point attempt blocked , a point which became a crucial difference . Like their previous game against Washington , USC out - gained Stanford by 224 yards ( 459 to 235 ) but made many crucial turnovers and penalties . In the press conference following the game , Carroll summarized his concerns : " It ' s real clear that we have fallen out of line with our philosophy that has guided this program for years ; we ' re turning the ball over too much . " Opinions in the sports press ranged from proclaiming the end of the USC ' s era of dominance in college football to calling the loss a major , but not fatal , set - back to any hopes for a Trojans run at the national championship . The Trojans fell to No . 10 in the AP Poll ; however , USC only fell to No . 7 in both the Coaches Poll and Harris Poll , both of which are the human components for determining who the BCS chooses for the National Championship Game . As a result , USC remained in outside title contention with upcoming games against consensus - No . 2 California and top - 10 Oregon . The upset landed the Trojans in ESPN . com ' s Bottom 10 . In an interview the following month , Carroll assessed the mistakes that led to the loss as his own : At the end of the regular season , " Sports Illustrated " chose Stanford ' s upset of USC as the second " Biggest Upset of 2007 " after Division I FCS Appalachian State ' s upset of No . 5 Michigan . TCU . A week after defeating top - ranked USC , Stanford welcomed TCU to Stanford Stadium for homecoming . It was also the first meeting between the two schools . The Cardinal found themselves with a double - digit lead late in the second half of this game , as they led the Horned Frogs 31 – 17 with 3 : 54 remaining in the 3rd quarter . TCU ' s Andy Dalton then hit Jimmy Young for a 70 - yard touchdown and Aaron Brown for a 2 - yard touchdown pass on fourth down to tie the game at 31 . Stanford kicked a field goal with 7 : 22 remaining to re - take the lead , 34 – 31 . Brown gave TCU its first lead of the game with a 2 - yard touchdown run with 4 : 13 left . An intentional safety by TCU in the final seconds made the final score 38 – 36 . Dalton ended the game with a career high 344 passing yards . Notre Dame . The Fighting Irish concluded their season on a high note , winning its second straight game and its second win on the road . Notre Dame ' s Robert Hughes ran for 136 yards and the go - ahead 6 - yard touchdown with 6 : 06 remaining in the 4th quarter to help the Irish beat the Cardinal 21 – 14 . The Irish ' s Jimmy Clausen went 19 – 32 for 196 yards and one touchdown . The Cardinal missed 4 field goals and turned the ball over twice . Notre Dame , meanwhile , committed 4 turnovers , including 3 fumbles and an interception . Notre Dame almost added another score on what would have been a spectacular finish to the half . Notre Dame ' s David Bruton intercepted Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard ' s last - play heave at the 3 - yard line and began a three - lateral return to the end zone that was called back on a personal foul on Notre Dame defensive lineman Trevor Laws . Irish Safety Tom Zbikowski ran the final 30 yards after a lateral from Darrin Walls , and the only thing missing was the band on the field as it was 25 years ago when California shocked Stanford with The Play . California . Stanford led Cal for the entirety of the 110th Big Game , winning 20 – 13 and gaining The Axe after Cal had held onto it for five straight years , marking Cal Coach Jeff Tedford ' s first loss to the Cardinal , something Harbaugh ' s two predecessors had failed to do . Stanford confused Cal on defense by alternating quarterbacks T . C . Ostrander and Tavita Pritchard in offensive series . The Golden Bears ' s Nate Longshore was 22 / 47 with 252 yards , 1 touchdown , and two interceptions , throwing one at the 7 - yard line with 2 : 10 remaining . Cal ' s Justin Forsett ran for 96 yards on 19 carries . The Golden Bears ' s Robert Jordan caught 4 receptions for 99 yards including a 46 - yard touchdown reception . Despite injuries that had depleted the Cardinal ' s backfield to the point where one player was converted to a running back , Stanford rushed for 120 yards . California ' s offense was limited to one touchdown and a field goal , Cal ' s worst offensive performance of the season . Longshore continued to struggle in the second half , leading the offense to only one field goal after half time . Cal committed 10 penalties for 118 yards .