As a kid, I preferred UCLA over USC. The Trojans were big and bad, but UCLA was little and lithe and a little smarter than your average oafs, and I liked that.

Terry Donahue played defensive tackle at 205 pounds. Bob Stiles was 5-foot-9 and and 175 pounds, but he stopped Michigan State’s huge fullback just short of the end zone of a two-point conversion try of what was a 14-12 UCLA upset of the previously unbeaten Spartans in the 1966 Rose Bowl. Stiles knocked himself out on the play. I wonder if he remembers being given the MVP trophy.

Those were the Gutty Little Bruins of my youth.

And today … they brought back memories of some of that in a 34-12 victory over No.7  Texas. In Austin.

No, this was not 14-12 over Michigan State. It wasn’t 14-7 or 20-16 over John McKay juggernauts in the middle 1960s, or the 13-9 shock of Pete Carroll’sTrojans in 2006.

Nor was it reminiscent of the last time UCLA played Texas in Austin, in 1997.  A 66-3 UCLA nuking that, still, is to me the single most shocking result in SoCal college football history. That one was called “Rout 66”, and while the final score was mind-boggling, that UCLA team actually was better than that Texas team.

In this one, today, in Texas … UCLA showed up with a team that lost 35-0 at home to Stanford and seemed a couple of bad defeats away from a ending Rick Neuheisel’s Westwood tenure a bit early.

But Texas was big but sloppy; UCLA was smaller but quicker, more tenacious, and smarter,  and took an early lead (kids: don’t field a punt inside your own 5). In the second half, UCLA broke  out a stunningly effective running game (what?) to beat down the big kids who began the day with national-title aspirations.

Yes. Stunning.

I’m not sure how many more games the Bruins will win. But if they can beat USC, and Texas, I’m not sure how many more they need to win to make this a memorable season.