Hail Harbaugh!

Stanford football head coach Jim Harbaugh

On the win over Oregon

"Well it was a heck of an opportunity for our football team to express who it was and we knew that going into the game. I was really proud of our players for how they played and our coaches and how the team prepared for that football game. Going forward, this is put up or shut up time for Stanford football and for us to continue in the Pac-10 race to win the championship and we've got to win this week so we'll attempt to do both. Play the best of our god-given ability and not really talk about it, just try to be about it."

On Toby Gerhart's ability

"Well he's fun to watch play football. Tough, smart, competitive, really talented, he's a shining star for us. He really lifts our football team at times onto his back and carries them. I think the really neat thing about Toby is that he'll be the first to tell you that it's his offensive line or his fullback Owen Marecic or how the play of Andrew Luck helps the running game. That's great for a coach to have a star player that thinks that way and genuinely thinks that way. It's about the team and not about him. That's what makes him really special."

On quarterback Andrew Luck and his ability

"He's playing really well and he's exceeded our hopes and our expectations for how he would play this year."

On status of defense

"Well last week we played good enough to win and Oregon punted the ball five times which is the most they've punted it all year and we were able to get a fumble, a turnover. But we played, I think collectively, individually, the guys had some good games, not their best, not the best of their careers, not the best this season, and a lot of that I think was Oregon's attack. Oregon's offense is really good and they way they're executing, the way their quarterback's playing, the running back, the weapons that they have and the job that Chip Kelly has done and their whole staff has done. You have your hands full playing that team. I think our football team did well considering that."

On memories of last visit to the Coliseum

"I have good memories. Those will be memories that I'm sure I'll have the rest of my life."

On things taken from that game

"I think there's no question that everything that's happened to us as a football team, well we're almost going on three years now, the great things, the horrible things, the good, the bad, all the hard work by so many people, that makes us who we are. Certainly that experience factors in, but we're trying to get a win right now. We understand the challenge and that certainly motivates our football team and it's going to need to have a great week of practice and preparation for the ballgame Saturday."

On thoughts of USC football team

"There's a lot of good things and challenges across the board. No weaknesses and that includes all three phases. Well coached, very talented football team. It's a great challenge for us, we'll be fighting for our lives."

On the redshirt year of Andrew Luck

"Well it was meant to his development. I think it was good in our case, it was good in Andrew's case. There was a lot of thought to it. We had a senior quarterback Tavita Pritchard that we trusted very much and we thought the best thing for our football team was to play Tavita."

On playing of Richard Sherman

"Definitely possible and we'd like our opponent to at least have that thought too."

On the team putting aside high-fives after wins (like against Oregon)

"We're talking about getting ready for USC here. One thing though, I think it has been true, is that we have been fortunate as a football team to play the team that beat USC the week after they beat them. There was something to that, I can't measure that or quantify that, but that's definitely been a good thing for Stanford football."

On moving forward with preparations after the program's success

"Well that's something that we want. We want to be in the mix. We've been looking at this right now as compared to the NFL playoffs and I think it's probably the closest thing to what our situation is. It started last week with Oregon. We had to win, stay, and hunt for the Pac-10 championship and the same is true this week. We lose and we're out of that. We win and we're still in it. That's tough, that's like put up or shut up time like I said before. That's kind of our only mode."

On win over USC a few years ago

"Well it was a great and thrilling victory. It was a great feeling of winning."