O'Cain blames himself for Duke loss

And maybe we should, too. Clemson offensive coordinator Mike O'Cain says Duke's defense confused him. That's right. The same Duke defense that's giving up an average of 420.5 yards of offense per game and is 108th out of 117 in rushing defense in the NCAA. (Here's another notebook echoing the same theme. And, here are the voluminous pregame notes from the SID's office.)

THE GAME AGAINST THE COCKS: Apparently, it gets bigger the closer you get to kickoff.

Read that any way you want.

STOCKSTILL COMES HOME: USC assistant coach Rick Stockstill, who coached at Clemson for 14 years, makes his homecoming this Saturday.

BAD YEAR FOR WHITEHURST: You're kidding me! What, our quarterback's not been playing well?

That's the first I've heard of it.

GAMECOCK-TIGER JOKES: These are pretty bad.

FLASHBACK: The official Clemson site has video highlights from the 1980 Clemson-USC game, a 27-6 upset victory for the Tigers.

My father and I were at that game, and it was truly unforgettable. The team warmed up in white pants, but by the time they came down The Hill, they were dressed in all orange. To this day, I have never heard Death Valley as loud as it was at that moment, and I've been to at least a couple of games a year every year since 1976.

To top it off, we beat a South Carolina team that was ranked, bowl-bound and featured Heisman Trophy-winning running back George Rodgers. The victory set the stage for our undefeated national championship season in 1981.