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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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USC pulled off one of its biggest wins in years, upsetting No. 2 Ohio State 30-18 at The Coliseum on Saturday.
The Trojans jumped out to an early lead and never gave it back, with freshman wideout Trent Mosley scoring on a 69-yard touchdown just two plays into the game. Jayden Maiava went an efficient 15 of 22 for 222 yards and a touchdown, while USC's defense kept Ohio State out of the end zone until the final minutes. The win moved USC up to 7-2 on the season and 4-2 in Big Ten play, and pushed them into the AP Top 25 at No. 18 overall, keeping their College Football Playoff hopes alive.
The win also earned head coach Lincoln Riley the Paul "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Week honor. The award is given out weekly to coaches who lead their programs to exceptional victories during the season.
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Riley came into this season under arguably more pressure than any other coach in college football. Despite being one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport, he still hasn't led USC to the CFP or a conference championship five years after taking over the program. After securing the No. 1 recruiting class in the country in 2026, this season was supposed to be different, but after two ugly losses, questions about his job security and massive buyout have become major talking points in recent weeks.
Saturday's win over Ohio State was a huge response. It gave USC its first win over a top-10 opponent in the Riley era and showed that the Trojans can go toe-to-toe and beat the best teams in the country.
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USC has a bye week next before visiting No. 4 Indiana on Nov. 14, hosting Maryland one week after that, and then facing No. 7 UCLA to close out the regular season. While the Buckeyes game was a massive momentum shifter for this program, there's still more work to do for them to make the CFP. They may realistically need to win all of their last three games to sneak into the postseason, with their matchups against the undefeated Bruins and defending champion Hoosiers being the most challenging.
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