By coaching in his 100th game for USC on Saturday, Pete Carroll joined an elite fraternity of Trojans icons. The only other three to have done so are Howard Jones (1925-40), John McKay (1960-75) and John Robinson (1976-82, 1993-97).

Carroll has a better winning percentage (.850) than any of them, but it doesn’t mean he is remotely satisfied.

Asked Sunday night what jumps out at him in reflecting on the first 100, Carroll said: “If there were a handful of games we would’ve won, we would’ve done a whole lot better.”

USC hasn’t lost more than two games since 2001, Carroll’s first season. But those defeats are the games that stick with him.

“It’s unfortunate that we let those games get away from us. Honestly, that’s the way I look at it,” said Carroll, whose winning percentage is the highest among active coaches with at least five years of experience.

“We had a couple different shots here that would have made a world of difference.”

More from the USC blog:

• USC football: Carroll takes shot at SEC
• USC football: Carroll says call against Turner was wrong
• USC football: McKnight aggravates toe injury
• USC football: Holding steady at No. 6 in BCS
• Five observations on USC-Stanford