Five games into the 2009 season, and the Trojan defense might be in its best year yet.

So far in '09, USC is allowing just 64.8 rushing yards and 8.6 points per game -- tops for the defense in Coach Carroll's nine seasons. And with only 173.8 passing yards and 238.6 total yards surrendered on average per game, it's lining up to be an all-time great season for the Trojan defense. Check out the full stat line for the defenses during Carroll's nine years at USC:

YEAR   RUSH D  PASS D   TOTAL D     SCORE D
2001     155.2      175.6       330.8           17.3
2002     83.2        201.8       284.9           18.5
2003     60.2        276.2       336.4           18.4
2004     79.4        199.9       279.3           13.0
2005     130.5      230.4       360.9            22.8
2006     91.1        204.8       295.8           15.2
2007     84.2        189.0       273.2           16.0
2008     87.4        134.3       221.8            9.0
2009     64.8        173.8       238.6            8.6