Oregon has broken Stanford's collective heart the past two seasons, handing the Cardinal their lone regular-season loss each year, both in dominant fashion.

In 2010, Stanford jumped to an early 21-3 lead before the Ducks exploded. In 2011, the Cardinal, despite having a guy by the name of Andrew Luck as their quarterback, imploded with five turnovers.

Andrew Luck and Stanford had a rough time against Oregon the past two seasons. AP Photo/Tony Avelar

Stanford went 12-1 in 2010 and outscored its foes by an average of 26.6 points per game. It lost to Oregon 52-31. Stanford went 11-2 in 2011, losing the Fiesta Bowl to No. 3 Oklahoma State by three points in overtime. Its average margin of victory was 27.4 points per game. It lost to Oregon 53-30.

Yet we're not here to bury Stanford, but to offer up a different role. Not only that, a role reversal.

Stanford dream buster.

Consider what the Cardinal have done this year.

When the sun rose on Sept. 15, everybody thought Matt Barkley was perfect and USC was a dominant national title contender. But the clock struck midnight on that when the Trojans were pushed around in a 21-14 loss.

A loss to Stanford.

California was mounting a turnaround when it eyeballed the Big Game on Oct. 20. The Bears were riding a two-game winning streak that included a blowout win over UCLA, and coach Jeff Tedford looked to be rallying to save his job. But the clock struck midnight on the Golden Bears' golden hopes in a 21-3 loss.