Jackson logged 16 sacks in his first two seasons at USC. He was a significant contributor to the Trojans, who lost just one game in those two seasons.
Then, through the first eight games of his junior year, he was sack-less. He didn't even manage one against hapless Stanford on Nov. 4.
It got worse.
Only hours after the Stanford game Jackson learned that his cousin, Kevin Shedden, had died in a car accident. Shedden, 25, served as a mentor in the game for Jackson, Jackson's younger brother and Shedden's two younger brothers.
His stock dropping, his spirit flagging, Jackson asked to meet with USC head coach Pete Carroll.
He felt lousy that he wasn't helping the team. He felt guilty at his own self-absorption: In light of his cousin's death, he understood that not having a sack meant little in the grand scheme.
"I was a junior, my name was hot. After a game, even if we won, if somebody else got a sack, I was upset," Jackson said. "Then my cousin died. I mean, I couldn't deal with it on my own anymore."
Jackson met with Carroll on Wednesday of that week.
He told Carroll he was preparing as hard as ever, that he was practicing harder, and, now, with a tragedy in his life, his world was blackening.
"I was kind of stumped," Jackson said.
"I think you're pressing," Carroll replied.
He handed him a little book about a fuzzy ball, a book he first read in the mid-1970s.
Jackson, mystified, accepted it and left. He placed it on his dresser, where it stayed for the next 2 days.
"I thought it was kind of weird," Jackson said.
Things got no better.
So, while packing for the team's Friday-night hotel stay before the homecoming game against Oregon, Jackson spotted the little book. A bit desperate, he figured the book at least would give him something to do in the long hours of waiting for the Saturday night game to start.
