by Tom FitzGerald, Chronicle Staff Writer , The San Francisco Chronicle

Coach Jim Harbaugh didn't exactly call it ancient history Tuesday, but he plainly didn't want to dwell on the topic now that his team is about to revisit the scene of the upset. He wouldn't even agree with the suggestion that it was the game that put his program on the college football map.

"Everything we've been through has built us to what we are - the good and the bad, the horrible and the great," he said.

In other words, the USC win was merely a step in the progression, just like last year's 45-23 loss to the Trojans. And just like Saturday's 51-42 upset of Oregon, which made Stanford bowl eligible and nationally ranked 25th for the first time since 2001.

Harbaugh called the bowl drought "a 600-pound gorilla" because it was mentioned so often in the media.

The main goal for the Cardinal 6-3, 5-2 PAC-10 remains the conference championship, he said, although they'll need a lot of help from other teams to accomplish that objective.

One more conference loss will eliminate that possibility, so Stanford has to beat USC on Saturday and knock off Cal the following week. A host of other things also would have to happen, like severe downturns in the fortunes of Oregon 5-1 PAC-10 and Arizona 4-1.

The No. 11 Trojans 7-2, 4-2 lately haven't looked like the same team that started the season with such high hopes for a BCS game. They lost 47-20 at Oregon on Halloween in the worst defeat of the Pete Carroll era, then beat punchless Arizona State 14-9 on the road.

Briefly : Stanford linebacker Clinton Snyder will undergo knee surgery and will need 6-9 months to recuperate, Harbaugh said. Snyder, a senior who was injured in practice last week, "will continue to be of interest to NFL scouts," Harbaugh said.

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