Lincoln Riley, the USC coach, has made it a point all season to compare where the squad was last year to where it is today after every victory, defeat, and practise.
Riley emphasised how far the programme has progressed in a short period of time even after USC lost to Utah by one point in October.
The Trojans only needed five games to reach their four-win total from the previous season
Riley made another point that evening in Salt Lake City: Despite the defeat, the Trojans' objectives would still be reachable if they continued to triumph.
Riley called the game a "iconic type." They won't forget evenings like that, whether they are USC or UCLA fans.
The two teams' first ranked meeting since 2015 was successful on almost all fronts. UCLA jumped out to a 14-0 lead early on and led 21-20 at halftime.
The second half of the game turned into a pingpong match of touchdowns. Dorian Thompson-Robinson would emphatically counteract anything quarterback Caleb Williams could do on one end
Williams and Thompson-Robinson both threw interceptions (three for Thompson-Robinson plus a fumble, one for Williams)
But they both tried to make up for it with spectacular drives, Houdini-like scrambling, and accurate touchdown throws.