The ending -- assuming that's what this was Saturday night -- came quickly … but not painlessly.
USC scored the first 10 points through a dominant first quarter, inspiring a glimmer of hope for those who wanted to believe in a Pac-12 title push or a reason to remain invested for the rest of this USC football season -- and then it all came unraveled.
Bit by bit, turnover by turnover, Oregon touchdown by Oregon touchdown as the final quarter and a half dragged on without mercy until the No. 7/8-ranked Ducks finally closed out a 56-24 win.
And effectively closed out the Clay Helton Era at USC in the process.
There was certainly question as to whether Helton could have saved his job regardless, with recruiting at an all-time low and a new athletic director on the way, but if that path existed it surely needed to include a Pac-12 championship game appearance and beyond.
With Utah beating Washington earlier in the day, the Trojans (5-4, 4-2 Pac-12) needed to pull off an upset Saturday night to remain in control of their path to the conference championship game. They didn't and the Utes should easily lock up the division now.
As for the Trojans, there are games left to play and bowl eligibility within likely grasp, but the season is no longer the story.
With reports on Friday that USC is finalizing the hiring of Cincinnati athletic director Mike Bohn, the future is already arriving for this program. The next domino is who coaches this football team into the future.
Not whether Helton is let go after the season, but who replaces him.
To be fair to Helton, he was compromised in key moments this season -- like having to break in true freshman QB Kedon Slovis in his first road start to lose a very winnable game at BYU, then having to start No. 3 QB Matt Fink on the road to lose another turnover-mired winnable game at Washington, to the mounting injuries of recent weeks.
USC went into its most important game of the season Saturday night with a fourth-string (or fifth-string at one point) freshman running back it didn't trust to give more than 8 carries in the first half -- resulting in 42 pass attempts and 10 handoffs before halftime -- and with a defense missing its best safety (Talanoa Hufanga), best defensive end (Drake Jackson) and one that would lose its other main safety to a targeting ejection (Isaiah Pola-Mao) and nickel Greg Johnson to a concussion early in the game.
But for Helton, the time for circumstances to factor into the verdict had long since passed.
USC is 10-11 since the start of last season and ranked No. 65 in the Rivals recruiting rankings (the Trojans had never finished lower than No. 12 before coming in at No. 19 last year, dating back to the start of those rankings in 2002).
There are no more excuses to make.
Whether Helton is resigned to his fate yet or not, he was to the fate of the game Saturday night when he called for a punt from the Oregon 42 at the end of the third quarter. Yeah, it was fourth-and-14, but it was also 42-17 at that point and the Trojans weren't going to mount a long-shot comeback by punting.
It's more a criticism of optics than outcome, though. The game was indeed over at that point.
USC had led 10-0 after an impressive 16-play touchdown drive to open the game, with Slovis dancing every direction in the pocket to buy time to find Drake London in the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown on third-and-5.
USC forced a three-and-out on Oregon's first drive and Pola-Mao intercepted Justin Herbert (just Herbert's second INT of the season) on the next Ducks series, giving the Trojans possession at the visitors' 8.
USC would settle for a field goal and a 10-0 lead, and that would be the high-water mark for the Trojans.
Slovis threw his first interception early in the second quarter on a pass that deflected off London's hands. Oregon marched 59 yards for a touchdown (a 10-yard Herbert scramble on third-and-8) to make it 10-7.
USC drove to the Oregon 3 on the ensuing series, but Slovis was sacked and fumbled while trying to buy time in the pocket again. The Ducks were credited with the recovery and the missed opportunities were already mounting for the Trojans.
Oregon went 92 yards this time for another touchdown (a 2-yard Jaylon Redd run) to take a 14-10 lead.
Slovis' second interception came two plays later when he simply didn't see Brady Breeze helping in coverage. Breeze returned it 32 yards for a touchdown and a 21-10 lead.
And even when USC showed fight with Slovis leading a 74-yard touchdown drive and finding Michael Pittman in the end zone for a 13-yard strike to cut it to 21-17, the Trojans couldn't protect the final 20 seconds of the first half.
They kicked off to Oregon, and Mykael Wright returned it 100 yards for a touchdown and a 28-17 halftime lead.
The Trojans' dizzying demise was hard to take account of after the game.
"Yeah, I mean obviously the red zone turnover really hurt and for them to score on that and get a kickoff return touchdown after that and the pick-6 -- oh yeah, I forgot about the pick-6," center Brett Neilon said, trying to recollect. "It just added up real quick. It was like a blitzkrieg, honestly. Yeah, we made critical mistakes that killed us."
To open the third quarter, Herbert returned from a brief stay on the sideline after taking a low hit (USC was flagged for a personal foul as part of its 8 penalties for 92 yards) to toss a 15-yard touchdown to Juwan Johnson and make it 35-17.
The Ducks just kept scoring and scoring and scoring -- eight straight touchdowns in all as part of a 56-7 run.
"There was kind of a lull, a sense of that on the sidelines once we had the pick-6 and the kickoff return. It was tough to come back from that going into the half," defensive end Christian Rector said.
Helton's decision to punt on fourth down in Oregon territory late in the third quarter was symbolic -- there was nothing more for him to do in this game, or to save his tenure.
He was asked afterward in a respectful way why he felt he was the right coach for USC moving forward, a chance to combat the critics and offer his own perspective to the ongoing referendum on his performance.
"You know, I've been here 10 years and I believe in being a servant to this university and to the young men that are here," Helton responded. "Each and every day I wake up and represent them and our school, and I will continue to do that each and every day. I'll fight like hell with the people that I believe in and the people that I love, until they ask me not to do it anymore."
That time is coming soon. USC ran out of fight Saturday night, and the second half was painful -- but that's usually true of these kind of endings.
**Join the discussion on Trojan Talk and check back for more postgame coverage**
More postgame coverage:
-Where do the Trojans go from here -- on the field, that is?
-WATCH: Clay Helton discusses his future, USC players react to lopsided loss
-First-and-10: The key takeaways, criticism and critiques from USC's performance
-All of the key comments from USC coaches and players after the game
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