USC needed its win against Nebraska — even if the Trojans still have a ways to go

LOS ANGELES – Lincoln Riley needed a win. Badly.

Last week, university president Carol Folt announced she'll retire in July — which meant the athletic director ( Mike Bohn, who resigned amid controversy in May 2023 ) and the president who presided over Riley's hire will both be gone this summer. On Tuesday, USC's football program was slapped with one year of probation by the NCAA for coaching violations. On Wednesday, a key part of the Trojans' 2025 recruiting class — local four-star defensive lineman Hayden Lowe — flipped to Miami, which displayed the tenuous state of USC's recruiting efforts. This is without mentioning the Trojans were below .500 entering Saturday's game against Nebraska .

Look, Riley is in no danger of getting fired, but the vibes around USC, frankly, have been rancid as of late. Riley and the program desperately needed to experience something positive for once.

The Trojans accomplished that on Saturday afternoon when defensive back Greedy Vance Jr. intercepted Cornhuskers quarterback Dylan Raiola in the end zone to seal a 28-20 victory.

-look offenses, USC tops Nebraska: Instant analysis

USC (5-5, 3-5 Big Ten), which has led in the fourth quarter in all five of its losses, finally made the plays necessary on offense and defense to finish a close game. Running back Woody Marks , who's been the Trojans' best player, crossed the 1,000-yard mark with a 146-yard rushing effort against a stout rushing defense. A secondary that hasn't come up with a lot of interceptions registered two in the second half. The quarterback switch to Jayden Maiava wasn't an overwhelming success, but it worked out well enough against Nebraska. The Trojans were even on the opposite end of a missed call by Big Ten officials for once.

"Alright, that was an awesome win," Riley said as he settled in for his postgame news conference. "That was just an awesome win."

Now, that doesn't mean USC is in the clear. There is still plenty of work to do to fix the program's issues. There are no obvious solutions to those problems either.

The Trojans' season will be described as disappointing no matter what happens over the final weeks of the regular season. But the potential of missing a bowl game after a massively disappointing 8-5 season in 2023 would lead to a pretty toxic offseason that USC should do all in its power to avoid.

The three-game stretch to end the regular season — vs. Nebraska, at UCLA and vs. Notre Dame — isn't easy. But it is an opportunity to change the mood around the program. Saturday was a good first step.

"I think how you finish seasons is always important," Riley said afterward. "The momentum it creates, wanting to continue to build, the young players getting to play more. To be the program we want to be, we're going to have to be great at the end of seasons. We have to play some of our best ball at the end. That's what good teams and that's what really good programs do. No matter the ebbs and flows and ups and downs of the season, they get better. They stay together and there's a pride about them wanting to be their best at the end. So we took a great step this week and looking forward to the challenge next week."

USC displayed some mental fortitude on Saturday. The game was ugly at times. The Trojans responded well when they had to, though.

Maiava, in his first start at USC, threw a pick-six to Nebraska corner and former Trojan Ceyair Wright. Maiava did some good things on Saturday. There are some plays he'll want back, too, like the interception and a third-quarter fumble.

But he also led a crucial touchdown drive, which he finished with a 2-yard scoring run, to extend USC's lead to 28-20. We've seen the Trojans' offense in that situation so often this season only to do little with it.

We've also seen the defense on the field late in games fail to come up with one last stop. Nebraska reached the USC 13-yard line with five seconds left but the Trojans came up with that late interception to turn the Cornhuskers away.

In the second half, Nebraska reached the USC 11, 12 and 13-yard lines on three different possessions. Those drives produced six points. The Trojans' defense stood tall in adverse situations. It forced a field goal after Maiava's third-quarter fumble that Nebraska recovered at the USC 16. It forced a punt after the Cornhuskers blocked a Trojans field goal attempt early in the fourth.

"Staying composed and responding to adversity (was key)," linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold said. "Sudden change is a big game changer in a lot of games. On the defensive side of the ball, you've got to maintain a level head, just do your job and execute."

These games aren't only important for the overall trajectory of the program but also for USC's aforementioned recruiting efforts.

Two Trojan commits flipped this past week. USC's five-star quarterback commit Julian "Juju" Lewis has had a wandering eye since the spring. He visited Colorado this season, flirted with Indiana and was reportedly slated to take an unofficial visit to Georgia this weekend.

On Saturday, USC hosted five-star defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart, a Louisiana native, and the No. 14 overall player in the country. Five-star Corona Centennial (Calif.) quarterback and Texas A&M Husan Longstreet visited on Saturday as well.

Riley has often harped on this team for not being able to separate in those close moments. Signing more elite talent is one way to fix those issues.

Make no mistake, NIL is far and away the most important thing in recruiting right now and USC isn't perfect there. But if you're not perfect there, you need to at least sell some sort of positive trajectory on the field to give recruits signs of progress.

Saturday was a positive step in several aspects, but Riley and USC still have considerable work to do to make sure it leads to something greater.

(Photo: Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)