Stanford is USC's oldest rival,in a series that dates to 1905. In the early years of football on the West Coast, the power sat in the Bay Area with the Stanford-Cal rivarly and USC rose to challenge the two established programs. During the early and mid-20th century Stanford football occasionally enjoyed periods of great regional success on the gridiron. USC and Stanford, being two major private universities on the west coast, naturally drew the ire of one another. In recent history, however, Stanford has not maintained their earlier success and the rivalry has faded to many USC fans; although many Stanford fans retain a hatred for SC