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As his team struggled, Carroll kept talking about getting the players to believe.  He was referring to a culture of defeat, a group of young men who had grown accustomed to coming up short.  Changing that would require more than Xs and Os.  He needed them to battle through their doubts, and he was finding an unlikely ally in Mike Pollard.

The middle linebacker had a history of fighting back from adversity.  The bad luck started in 1995 when, as a highly touted junior at Long Beach Poly, Pollard hurt his knee.  Young and afraid the surgeon would make a mistake, he insisted upon having an epidural so he could stay awake and watch the procedure.

The injury healed in time for him to play as a senior and attract interest from recruiters, but then his test scores came back too low.  That meant a semester of hitting the books at a local junior college to qualify.  And there was another season of waiting when he reached USC in 1998, playing behind All-American linebacker Chris Claiborne.  Finally, with a shot at winning a spot in the starting lineup for the 1999 season, Pollard tore ligaments in the other knee.  He recalled thinking, It's over.

In need of motivation- the will to come back one more time- he looked first to his father.  Henry Pollard had worked decades as a welder before the shipyards closed down, leaving him too young to retire, too old to get hired elsewhere.  He started a business selling peanuts to support his family.  "Talk about hard times," he said, laughing.  "But you can't give up."  His son adopted the same attitude, taking further inspiration from old films of Munoz, the USC offensive lineman who had five knee operations and still became one of the greatest players ever at his position in pro football history.

"If he had five surgeries on his knees and could do that," Pollard said, "I knew I could do it with just two."

The road back began with decidedly unglamorous duty on the kickoff squad in 2000.  He took his frustration out on opposing returners, delivering a series of highlight-reel hits.  "I knew I could play if someone gave me a chance," he said.

The opportunity arose when Carroll arrived in 2001.  The new coach looked at videotape of Pollard's special teams work and penciled him in at outside linebacker.  Then, in an ironic twist, Long Beach Poly recruit Marvin Simmons failed to qualify academically- just like Pollard years before- leaving the Trojans thin in the middle.  Despite his initial reluctance to switch, Pollard won the job by the end of training camp.  "He just kept answering the bell," said DeWayne Walker, the associate head coach.  "It's nice to see him out there playing like he is."

Using his quickness and hands to fend off blockers, Pollard led the team with 11 tackles against Oregon and Notre Dame.  Linebacker coach Nick Holt explained, "He's never going to be the biggest guy or the fastest guy on the field, but he's working his butt off and making a lot of plays."

Before each game, Pollard gave a prayer of thanks and made a point of listening to his cleats clack down the tunnel that led onto the field.  He looked up at all the people in the Coliseum.  "All the stuff I went through," he said.  "I didn't think this day would ever come."  He was the embodiment of what Carroll needed to revive the Trojans.

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