What's in a number?

At USC, quite a bit. As the Trojans have cobbled together a tradition rivaled by few other teams, they've compiled a host of records along the way that stand the test of time, from within the university to the conference and national levels, as well. To that end, as the latest crop of All-American hopefuls -- which include Leonard Williams, Su'a Cravens, Buck Allen and Nelson Agholor, among others -- seek to make their mark on USC history, they do so while striving to shatter some of the most impressive records in the sport's history.

Which ones stand out above the rest, though? It's a tough list to pare down; case in point, Artemis' Parker's 20 career interceptions and the single-game rushing record of 753 yards against UCLA in 1929 only made honorable mention.

But after poring through the USC record books, we've come up with this list of the 10 most unbreakable records in school history.

Perhaps it's for the best that this one is unlikely to be broken, as one of the chief criticisms of the Lane Kiffin era was his infatuation with Lee's admittedly incendiary talent, sometimes to the detriment of the offense overall. Still, Lee at his peak was a sight to behold, and in order to top this one the Trojans will need to find a receiver with the top gear to get behind the defense; the vision and athleticism to make plays after the catch; the concentration to snare challenging balls in traffic; and, quite probably, another threat opposite him to help keep defenses honest, which Lee had in Robert Woods. Seems simple enough, right? We're not holding our breath.

With the likes of Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Dwayne Jarrett, Steve Smith, LenDale White and an armada of offensive linemen, the 2005 Trojans are regarded as having maybe the greatest offense of all time. At the very least, it stands alone at USC, as no other team has even made it to 6,000 total yards. That it was done at a time before offenses began to benefit from restrictions placed on defensive contact makes it all the more formidable.

Davis was great at so many things when the ball was in his hands, but perhaps the most unsung was his enduring dominance on kick returns. With touchbacks now taking the ball to the 25-yard-line, returners are more incentivized than ever before to take a knee instead of bringing the ball out, and even the best are fortunate to clear that mark on a regular basis. And yet Davis, by contrast, almost disappointed when he took it 10 yards further -- at least that was the case compared to his 1974 season, when he averaged 40.3 yards per return (albeit on just 12 attempts). Don't weigh that smaller workload against him too much, though; his six career touchdowns on kick returns still represent a conference record. His ability to quickly shift gears and accelerate in a split-second would hold up in any era.

Perhaps the gold standard among Trojan defensive tackles, Ryan's single-season sack mark has stood the test of time, even in an age where teams pass the ball at record rates. Just two years ago, junior college transfer Morgan Breslin put up the best pass rushing numbers USC had seen in nearly a decade as an edge rusher with a killer first step; for his troubles, he got to the quarterback 13 times. Willie McGinest tallied 16, while Kenechi Udeze came closest with 16.5 takedowns. Yet that still falls considerably short of Ryan's number, which is made even more impressive by virtue of being an interior pass rusher instead of an edge player. Sedrick Ellis made his claim toward matching Ryan's overall impact as a defensive tackle and, when his Trojan career is over, Leonard Williams may have something to say about that as well. But as a pass rusher, Ryan is peerless.

There are a multitude of reasons why this one won't be touched, but perhaps the most relevant is the number of carries it took Bell to get there: 51, which represent a Pac-12 record. The Bulldog, as his teammates were wont to call him, was a workhorse of the highest order and at 6-foot-2 and weighing in excess of 220 pounds, he had the frame to endure one punishing blow after another. It's inconceivable for any back in today's game to even have the opportunity to break Bell's record; averaging close to seven yards per carry on top of that puts this mark well out of reach.

The most prolific member of the second Wild Bunch, USC hasn't seen an end the likes of Udeze since his Trojan career came to a close. In only three years, BKU piled on 28 sacks -- 16.5 coming in his All-American junior season -- and a whopping 51 tackles for loss. The mark that endures, however, are the 14 forced fumbles, which included six as a sophomore and five as a junior. No Trojan since has compiled more than four in a year and since USC began tracking the stat in 1986, Udeze is the only player in school history to notch a half dozen in one year. Even with four seasons, it's tough to imagine another player surpassing Udeze's mark. That the Nigerian set it in only three is truly wondrous.

Reggie Bush had the gaudiest numbers per touch and Charles White the grandest over a career. But for one year, no Trojan had a better rushing season than Marcus Allen's 1981 Heisman campaign -- which, among other things, was most notable for an NCAA-record five straight 200-yard games. That figure alone is daunting enough; that Allen had six more on top of that streak is nothing short of astounding.

There is no greater irony in this storied rivalry than Notre Dame being done in by a native Irishman, the way they were by Young. As a senior, the Dublin native was the Trojans' driving force on defense in a game that saw USC avenge a 51-0 rout one year earlier by dominating the Irish 24-7. Even with college football being more pass happy than ever, it's difficult to envision anyone even matching Young's total, let alone breaking it with a fifth pick.

Like the rest of Bush's brilliance, this technically was expunged from the NCAA record book after he was deemed ineligible for accepting impermissible benefits. However, what the Helix High product did with the ball in his hands was still otherworldly. We could have included several other marks here -- it's tough to imagine another Trojan breaking his single-game all-purpose yards mark of 513, although Marqise Lee came close -- but his most mind-boggling feat of all was getting USC nearly three-quarters of the way toward a first down every time he carried the football. It takes a once-in-a-generation talent to account for that kind of yardage in spite of being the most feared and accounted for weapon on the field. Bush was undoubtedly that.

The standard bearer among all milestones at Tailback U, nobody is touching the most unbreakable record in USC history. Case in point, no one has even gotten within spitting distance in the 35 years after White left USC; second- place Marcus Allen stands almost a full 1,500 yards behind him, with 5,047 yards, and no other Trojan has even cracked 4,000 career rushing yards. Sultan McCullough is the only Trojan since White to lead the team in rushing in three consecutive years; at 3,000 career yards, he didn't reach the halfway mark. Between the whopping 1,147 carries, the impressive 5.44 yards-per-rush average or the wealth of physical ability it requires to break down a defense so many times in four scant years, we will never see a USC running back take down White's mark.