Stanford, a 41-point underdog, shocked USC 24-23 in quite possibly college football’s greatest upset ever.

None of the context mattered much to a student body simply possessed Saturday night. Students literally set the Quad ablaze — lighting a bonfire that a cheering Fire Department had to put out — minutes after the game. Grads and undergrads alike prepared to show frat and Row houses their best parties in years that evening and the football team had its warmest reception in memory as it arrived at Maples Pavilion shortly after midnight.

You could hear the cry go up in Tresidder and in dorms across campus as students fervently refreshed their laptops and texted their friends news of Stanford’s 17-point fourth quarter. You could hear it in the Palo Alto bars as Tavita Pritchard’s fourth-and-goal pass found Mark Bradford with 49 seconds to go. And when Bo McNally intercepted USC’s last heave, you could hear it in the horns on University Avenue and around Campus Drive and the screams in every building in between.

One play, one game, one team gave this campus more life than any student here can remember.

With the win, Stanford football was back on the national consciousness. “Cardinal Rule” proclaimed ESPN.com’s front-page headline; “Absolutely Stunning,” SI.com read. That the game went final at 11 p.m. on the East Coast made it the perfect lead story for that night’s TV shows. Even The New York Times got in on the act, giving Stanford’s shocker top online billing over stories on Medicare billing scams and ongoing conflicts in Iraq and the Congo.

The win can’t hurt the rest of Stanford’s season. A bowl bid suddenly seems plausible (though still unlikely) with TCU’s Homecoming visit kicking off the second, and less difficult, portion of the 2007 season. And the resulting buzz can’t hurt Stanford’s recruiting — think a few high school stars might be interested after Saturday’s performance?

Ultimately though, Stanford football won over a far more important constituency Saturday: its student body. New stadium, new coach and New Student Orientation notwithstanding, attendance had been moving toward an all-time low and apathy an all-time high.

But that’s all changed since the Cardinal ejected the Trojans from the driver’s seat to the national title game. Now, Stanford is as popular as ever not just in places like Columbus, Baton Rouge, or, ironically, Berkeley, but in houses like Columbae, Branner and Burbank.

On Saturday night, a once-proud college football program awoke — and the Stanford community has taken notice.

That might just have been the biggest upset of all.