STANFORD, Calif. - When Bryce Love was a senior at Wake Forest High School in North Carolina, he played with a dislocated shoulder during a quarterfinal playoff win against Millbrook. The next week, he ran for 227 yards and two touchdowns -- 90 and 52 yards -- to lead the Cougars to their second straight appearance in the 4-AA championship.
"It's not only his physical talent, it's also his heart," said Wake Forest assistant coach Jamie Holland, who played for Ohio State and spent six seasons in the NFL. "You can make a kid tough at practice, but you can't put the heart in there. It comes from within."
Sound familiar?
Now a junior at Stanford and the national rushing leader most of the season, Love sustained an ankle injury against Oregon on Oct. 14 and missed nearly six quarters of action. Though somewhat limited, he's played in every contest since, and has helped the No. 14 Cardinal reach Friday's Pac-12 Championship Game for the fourth time in six years, with Stanford taking on No. 11 USC.
Love was held to a season-low 69 rushing yards in the snow at No. 25 Washington State, ranked in the top 10 nationally against the rush. The following week against No. 9 Washington, which boasted the top defense in the country and had only surrendered three rushing touchdowns, Love scampered for 166 yards and three scores on 30 carries.
Clearly hurting, Love pounded for 101 yards and a game-winning 57-yard touchdown against Cal, then churned for 125 yards last week against No. 8 Notre Dame. Although he has seldom practiced since the Oregon game, Love has produced a run of 30 or more yards in every game this season.
"It's incredible to see what he's been able to do," said junior cornerback Quenton Meeks. "You can tell he's not 100 percent but he's giving it his all. He's basically doing all this on one leg. As a competitor, an athlete, a teammate and a good friend, that motivates you."
A leading contender for the Heisman Trophy, the 5-9, 196-pound Love has been listed day-to-day before the last three games. He's started every one and finished strong, despite going against defenses that have sold out to stop him, often positioning seven, eight or even nine players in the box.
"Every time he gets tackled, it kind of hits your heart because you know he's hurting," said senior center Jesse Burkett. "It's inspiring and makes you want to go that much harder."
Love took a beating against the Huskies, often limping off the field. But he kept coming back.
"Every play they know he's getting the ball, for the most part," Meeks said. "The whole defense wants to hit him and he's still breaking tackles and he's still doing his thing. That doesn't go unnoticed."
David Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, has never seen anything like it.
"The closest was when Kevin Hogan sprained his ankle at USC (2015)," said Shaw. "He played through it and didn't miss a game. He won a couple with his legs and was in pain the rest of the year. But he wasn't playing running back. He wasn't planting, cutting, exploding and having people tackle him low on 20-to-30 carries. To still be this productive and have two 100-yard games on a sprained ankle is unheard of."
A finalist for the Walter Camp, Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards, Love ranks first among Power 5 conference running backs in rushing yards (1,848), rushing yards per game (168.0), yards per carry (8.6), 100-yard rushing games (10), 20-yard rushes (27), 30-yard rushes (22), 40-yard rushes (13), 50-yard rushes (11/FBS record) and 60-yard rushes (6). He has posted a 30-yard run in an FBS-record 13 straight games.
Of his 1,848 rushing yards, 1,015 have come after contact. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranks eighth nationally with 4.7 yards after contact and first in elusive rating at 153.1.
Love leads the Pac-12 and ranks third nationally in all-purpose yards per game with 171.0 – and the only player in the top-5 nationally without a kick return yard. He has surpassed 100 yards rushing in 10 of 11 games he has played in this season.
"I feel blessed, injury or not, because I know things could be much worse," Love said. "I'm still able to run and cut and make moves and contribute for my teammates. I know they're working their hardest to make things happen, and it's only right that the running backs do as well."
Love has recorded a rushing touchdown of 50 or more yards 11 times this season.
"When you have somebody back there that's as explosive and talented as he is, it just makes you want to put in that little extra bit of strain because that one inch could be a touchdown," said Burkett.
While his blistering 4.3 speed is a game-changer, the humble and soft-spoken Love is tough, fearless and relentless. He is a patient runner, aggressive and leads by example.
Meeks still marvels about his performance against Washington.
"A couple times the safety came down and hit him hard, but he bounced off and kept running," he said. "Everybody was gunning for him and he was still able to wear them down."
What flashes through Love's mind when his number is called and he sees 11 defenders primed to stop him?
"More than anything else, it's excitement," said Love. "I'm big on competing -- our 11 versus your 11. That competitive drive, knowing the work we put in and having the confidence in the unit that they're going to do their assignments and you're going to make the right read and try to make something happen."
Growing up, Love never imagined he would attend Stanford or set his sights on becoming a pediatrician. He has fully embraced Nerd Nation, loves his teammates, and can't imagine being anywhere else.
"I wear a sweatshirt that says, 'Just a Kid From Wake Forest,' " he said. "At the end of the day, that's really what I feel like. Stanford came all the way out there to find me, and I had the opportunity to come out and play with all these amazing people in one of the best conferences in the country with the best coaches in the country. That opportunity means the world to me."
Love always wears a smile on his face.
"He's never had a bad day in his life," said Shaw. "If something goes bad, he makes something good out of it. That's his attitude and it's infectious."
Senior defensive tackle Harrison Phillips remembers walking off the field after the Sept. 9 loss to USC in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
"There's some good guys over there," he said. "A lot of them said we'll see you at the Pac-12 Championship. For us to battle our way back and put ourselves in position to win it is really incredible. We look forward to the test. We're going to go gun-slinging."
After losing at San Diego State the following week, the Cardinal has won eight of its last nine contests.
"We made up our minds that we were going to lock in and get that rematch with the Trojans," said senior free safety Brandon Simmons. "We did it, so it speaks to the character and leadership on this team."
The Stanford defense has held its last 10 opponents under their season scoring average.
"That USC game kind of exposed us," fifth-year senior outside linebacker Peter Kalambayi said of the USC setback. "We realized we still have a lot of work to do. Every week, Coach (Lance) Anderson would say, 'You're progressing but you're still not there yet.' We still aren't."
Both teams know each other well.
"We know what they run," said Kalambayi. "It's always a physical game and they're a very good team. We're just going to attack the best we can."
While USC enjoyed a bye last week and is well-rested, Stanford is essentially playing a home game.
"Both are advantages," Shaw said. "The fact that we don't have to travel is huge."
Shaw credited the Trojans for "hitting on all cylinders" in the first meeting. "They really took it to us," he said.
How has his team changed?
"I think we have a better handle of who we are and what we're good at," said Shaw.
Friday marks the 15th time in the 95-game series history that No. 14 Stanford and No. 11 USC enter with top 25 rankings. The Cardinal leads, 8-6.
Here's a recap:
1940 – No. 9 Stanford defeats No. 17 USC, 21-7
1951 – No. 7 Stanford defeats No. 6 USC, 27-20 (in Los Angeles)
1953 – No. 17 USC defeats No. 11 Stanford, 23-20 (in Los Angeles)
1968 – No. 2 USC defeats No. 18 Stanford, 27-24
1969 – No. 4 USC defeats No. 16 Stanford, 26-24 (in Los Angeles)
1970 – No. 12 Stanford defeats No. 4 USC, 24-14
1972 – No. 1 USC defeats No. 15 Stanford, 30-21
1992 – No. 21 Stanford defeats No. 11 USC, 23-9
2009 – No. 25 Stanford defeats No. 11 USC, 55-21 (in Los Angeles)
2011 – No. 4 Stanford defeats No. 20 USC, 56-48 [3OT] (in Los Angeles, Shaw's first season)
2012 – No. 21 Stanford defeats No. 2 USC, 21-14
2014 – No. 14 USC defeats No. 13 Stanford, 13-10
2015 – No. 7 Stanford defeats No. 24 USC, 41-22 (in Santa Clara at Pac-12 Championship Game)
2017 – No. 6 USC defeats No. 14 Stanford, 42-24 (in Los Angeles)
Shaw has kept in contact with newly-hired UCLA head coach Chip Kelly and welcomes his return to the Pac-12.
"I've missed him," he said. "I love his personality and the way he coaches. He shook this conference up and made everybody better."
Quotable ... "It's not in the stat book and you don't see it in yards, but it spreads throughout the team and helps in ways people can't imagine." - Quenton Meeks on the heart of Bryce Love.
