Remember when USC Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold was considered all that and a bag of chips? Of course you do. His potential Heisman hype has been jammed down our throats for slightly less than a year at this point. About that potential to be one of the finalists in New York around the end of the year… uh, maybe not.

Well, to be fair to him, at least it doesn't seem like that following USC losing to Washington State on Friday evening. Especially not after a fumble by Sam Darnold played a key role in the Trojans losing the game.

Darnold did not have his best night in Pullman. By the time it was all said and done, he only tossed it around for 164 yards and had an interception to boot. That would be bad enough if it were in a win. Alas, it was in the fifth-ranked Trojans’ 30-27 loss at No. 16 Washington State.

Darnold did manage to rush for 25 yards and two touchdowns. Hooray for silver linings in the otherwise gloomy as all hell cloud. It is certainly worth noting that the Trojans were down three starters on the offensive line. It would be dishonest to paint a completely negative picture of Sam Darnold without providing such context.

The offensive line was a factor on the play that sealed the outcome, with no one picking up Washington State linebacker Jahad Woods on the blitz. Woods was able to force the Darnold fumble, with teammate Derek Moore making the recovery.

We will see how this alters the perception of Darnold as people start releasing their new Heisman hot-takes when Saturday is over.