Except that it didn't.

Done in by a knee injury barely a month into his first season in five years, the one-time greatest high school quarterback in the country never had the chance to write his Hollywood ending.

Nearly a year later, though, the wait seems almost worth it. Olson is healthy again, married, in complete command of a new offense that suddenly seems capable to lifting the No. 13 Bruins to great heights, and preparing to meet for the first time the team for whom he once was expected to lead - Brigham Young. The teams meet for the first time since 1993 at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

"It's funny where life takes you," Olson said. "You never know where you're going to end up."

Like standing at a podium in a room surrounded by gleaming mementoes of UCLA's illustrious sporting history, talking about the path that brought him here. He said playing the Cougars will be just like any other game for him, even though he spent the fall semester of his freshman year at BYU as the savior-in-waiting before embarking on a two-year mission for the LDS Church and transferring to UCLA upon his return.

"Things happen in life for a reason," he said. "I went to BYU for a reason, and I had a great experience there, but I chose to go on a mission and when I came back from my mission, I was just kind of at a different place in life. Just decided that I wanted to pursue other options, and UCLA has been a great place for me. I'm so glad that I made the decision to come here."

So are the Bruins.

Last season ended in a 7-6 disappointment in part because they lost four straight games after Olson suffered a sprained knee ligament against Arizona that kept him out of the rest of the season.

Now they look as though they could contend for the Pac-10 Conference title.

With new offensive coordinator Jay Norvell choreographing what players describe as a more wide-open system, the Bruins opened their season last week with an impressive 45-10 victory at Stanford.

They mixed the run and pass brilliantly and tossed in a few tricks plays, and Olson completed 16 of 29 passes for 286 yards and five touchdowns - a performance not unlike his impressive season-opener last year, when he threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-10 win over Utah.

"I think everybody expected us to win," defensive end Bruce Davis said. "But I don't think they expected us to put that many points on the board." Olson and the offense "came out here . . . and just lit it up."

Not only that, but coach Karl Dorrell believes Olson is better suited now to avoid a letdown similar to that of last year, when he followed his performance against the Utes by throwing for just 126 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against Rice.

"He's much different, just because he's much more confident in what he's doing," Dorrell said. "Last year, the first time as a starter, he was . . . just doing plays. He wasn't quite entrenched in it, like he is now. He's much more confident, much more poised. He feels like he has much more control over the situation."

Part of the reason is that Olson is newly married.

Dorrell said Olson's marriage in May to the former Andrea Anderson "has really made his world slow down" and allowed the 6-foot-5 junior to focus more on his training.

"He was a different guy" after the wedding, Dorrell said.

But Olson also learned a lot while recovering from his injury last season. "I would say I'm significantly more comfortable this year," he said. Olson returned to practice late in the year, but didn't supplant junior Patrick Cowan as the starter until training camp this season.

"I just really appreciate the opportunities that I have now, I think a lot more than maybe before, because you understand, through experiences - not only on the football field, but in life - that nothing is guaranteed," Olson said. "People don't owe you anything. You have to go out there and earn everything that you get."

The nation's top-rated prep recruit in 2001 at Thousand Oaks High School not far from here, Olson hinted that he felt some criticism from fellow Mormons for leaving church-owned BYU - "people are always going to second-guess, maybe, some of your decisions," he said - but said he has never wondered what might have happened had he stayed with the Cougars. Former coach Gary Crowton might not have been fired, for one thing, though it's impossible to guess what else might have happened differently in the past three years.

In any case, not much is the same for Olson after all that time.

Except for one thing.

He still fields phone calls from his old friends at BYU - including linebacker Bryan Kehl, his roommate during his freshman year who left him a message a few days ago and will try to tear his head off at the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

"It wasn't a malicious message, in any sense," Olson said, smiling. "I have to give him a call back. . . . We'll just probably chat it up a little bit and have a friendly conversation."