The two teams stared at each other from across the East Room of the White House, each waiting for its photo op, each convinced it belonged there more than the other. But both USC and Louisiana State technically had been named college football's national champions after the 2003 season - LSU by the Bowl Championship Series computers and USC by the Associated Press voters - so both had been invited to meet with President George W. Bush at the White House in March 2004.
Both teams enter the opener under strikingly similar circumstances, basically the football version of the Spider-Man pointing meme. Their coaches, USC's Lincoln Riley and LSU's Brian Kelly, both are starting a critical Year 3 at their schools, with sky-high expectations and mounting pressure to deliver on them. Both are replacing Heisman winners at quarterback with longtime backups who waited their turn.
Their meeting may not decide the true champion of 2003 - many of the players in this year's matchup weren't even born yet - but the stakes still are high for USC and LSU, given the gauntlet awaiting them in the coming weeks.
For two teams with far more questions than answers on both sides of the ball, Sunday's matchup should say a lot about where they stand.
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