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It's not the loss itself that should be alarming.
Suffering a defeat at USC was a probability any reasonable Colorado Buffaloes fan was OK with when glancing over the schedule at the season's outset. A 5-0 start while playing a crisp and largely error-free brand of football, combined with the Trojans' underwhelming start, might have closed the gap for those expectations, but still ... 5-1 at this stage of the season? Find me a fan that wouldn't take that.
But Saturday's crashing-back-to-reality 31-20 defeat in Los Angeles wasn't just a loss.