THE USC Trojans defeated their crosstown rivals, the UCLA Bruins, 19-13, Saturday night at the Rose Bowl, to reclaim the title. Victory Bell and become eligible to bowl this season. A team that has struggled in close games for most of the season has now won two straight one-possession games.

‘These wins are special,’ USC coach said Lincoln Riley. “We know how much it means to this city, how much it means to this university.”

It was certainly an interesting week for the Trojans with a flu outbreak affecting the majority of the team and a number of coaches, including Riley. On Tuesday, they trained with just 27 players. Despite the setback, Riley wasn’t going to let this serve as an excuse for his team.

“Winning breeds confidence, it breeds enthusiasm,” Riley said. “It’s a confirmation of the things that you do. And for us to win this one, especially this way, playing as well defensively as we did, overcoming everything we did this week. You Could write a book on this week alone. We just had a no excuses attitude.”

The Trojans’ inability to capitalize inside the five-yard line was the story of the first half. On their second possession, quarterback Jayden Maiava fired a dart to receiver Makai Lemon in stride for 62 yards, then a 16-yard run by running back Woody Marks moved USC inside from the five yard line, but was unable to capitalize. Back-to-back misses from Maiava at the two-yard line forced the Trojans to settle for a Michael Lantz field goal to make it 3-3 at the end of the first quarter.

A fourth-down sidearm throw from Maiava to receiver Kyron Hudson on the Trojans’ next possession kept the drive alive and a 21-yard run by running back Quinten Joyner moved USC inside the UCLA five-yard line, but once again they couldn’t punch. he inside.

Late in the first half, Maiava connected with tight end Lake McRee, who survived a big hit for 26 yards. A negative run by Marks on first down, followed by consecutive incompletions by Maiava on fade passes brought Lantz back onto the field for his third field goal of the first half. USC led 9-3 at halftime.

The play Riley threw in the red zone was certainly questionable. Nine plays inside the 5-yard line and Marks only carried the ball once.

Tempers flared on the field as both teams headed to the locker rooms for halftime, resulting in three unsportsmanlike penalties from UCLA.

Due to the number of unsportsmanlike penalties, UCLA was forced to kick off from the 5-yard line to begin the second half. The Trojans started the drive near midfield, but scored just seven yards on four plays and a drop by receiver Ja’Kobi Lane on fourth down gave the Bruins the ball with excellent possession down the field. UCLA took advantage and seven plays later, quarterback Ethan Garbers connected with tight end Moliki Matavao for a 10-yard touchdown to give the Bruins a 10-9 lead.

Leading 13-9 midway through the fourth quarter, Riley reached into his bag of tricks, calling a double pass, Lemon, who had never thrown a pass in high school or college, paired with Kyron Hudson for a 39 yard pass and once again the Trojans were inside the 5 yard line. The very next piece, just like Caleb Williams what he did in this stadium two years ago, Maiava created a bit of magic. He broke out of the pocket, escaped a sack, reversed field to his left and threw a strike to Lane for a 4-yard touchdown to give USC a 16-13 lead.

On the ensuing Bruins drive, the Trojans pushed Garbers on a quarterback sneak during the line scrum on fourth-and-one. USC would score a field goal to extend its lead to 19-13 with two minutes left in regulation.

“I can’t say enough about us defensively, how well we played to hold them off,” Riley said. “Obviously, big saves. We were just great defensively, we really were. We played at a very high level.”

UCLA had a chance to regain the lead, but as it had all night, the defense stepped up and forced four consecutive incompletions and USC left the rainy Rose Bowl field victorious. THE the fourth quarter is in difficulty that plagued them for most of the season have become a thing of the past with Maiava under center, who is now 2-0 as a starter.

“We’ve been through a lot, and I told you when we lost a few. At some point, that’s going to become our advantage because we’ve been through so much that we really don’t know anything. Otherwise, the guys were confident,” Riley said.