He had been here before.

He had escaped the rush, turned the corner and sprinted head-on towards a closing defender. Only the last time, Carson Palmer ended up with a snapped collarbone. This time, he was hoping for a touchdown.

He got neither.

Yet the 22-yard run, highlighted by Palmer's goal line flip over UCLA defensive back Ricky Manning, spoke volumes about the Heisman Trophy candidate.

Palmer's Heisman ballot

ESPN.com asked each of the Heisman finalists for their vote (excluding themselves). Here's Carson Palmer's take. 1. Larry Johnson, RB, Penn State "Rushing for 2,000 yards is an amazing accomplishment. I know a lot of people are critical of him for three losses, but you can't be. He had an incredible year." 2. Ken Dorsey, QB, Miami "For Ken to accomplish what he has through his career is truly one of the best stories in college football. And people completely pass over the fact that he threw for 3,000 yards, yet again." 3. Willis McGahee, RB, Miami "He was Miami's spark. Whenever they needed a big play in a game, it always seemed like he was the guy that did it for them."

It spoke about his toughness. His confidence. And the fact that no season-ending injury of the past would affect the way he plays today.

Say what you will about Palmer's 425 yards and four touchdowns on national TV against Notre Dame or his record-setting 448 yards and five touchdowns three weeks earlier against Oregon. But if you want Palmer's defining Heisman moment, look no further than his gutsy 22-yard run in one of college football's most heated rivalries.

"That's the play I keep seeing over and over on all the television highlights," Palmer said. "And that's the one that everybody talks about. And it's something I'll never forget.

It was reminiscent of John Elway in Super Bowl XXXVII. Palmer escaped the UCLA rush on the busted pass play; the only thing between him and the endzone was Manning. As the two approached collision at the three-yard line, Palmer planted his feet, leaned forward and went airborne.

"I was at about three and I thought for sure I could get in," Palmer said. "I sort of made a dive for it and one of their guys hit me low and I flipped forward."

Palmer crashed do the ground, landing on his back. Immediately, he rose to his feet and celebrated what he thought was a touchdown. As it turned out, Manning flipped Palmer just outside the pylon, giving USC first and goal from the one-inch line. Running back Justin Fargas scored on the next play.

"When you play football, you sacrifice your body on every play," USC defensive back Troy Polamalu said. "And to see Carson do that, it was really a big motivator. We were sitting on the bench, heard the crowd roar and then saw the replay on the big screen. And the defense was just like, 'Wow.'"

Two years earlier, while salvaging another broken play, Palmer elected not to run out of bounds, but instead lower his shoulder and bowl over Oregon defensive back Michael Fletcher. Bad decision. The play resulted in a snapped collarbone and an early end to the 1999 season. USC, 2-0 before Palmer's injury, finished the season 6-6.

So against the Bruins, when Palmer took off for the goal line USC coaches thought for sure he'd head out of bounds. When he didn't, well, they weren't thrilled.

First to greet him was coach Pete Carroll. "I run off the field, he grabs me and goes, 'Don't ever do that again,'" Palmer said. Then it was offensive coordinator Norm Chow's turn. "I got on the phone with him upstairs and he says to me, 'Who in the world do you think you are?'"

Palmer didn't have an answer. But perhaps the right one would have been a football player that will do whatever it takes to win.

"To be honest, Carson's been doing that stuff his whole career," Polamalu said. "It's just that now, people are taking notice."

Wayne Drehs is a staff writer at ESPN.com. He can be reached at wayne.drehs@espn3.com.