Lemon scores through air, on ground in No. 20 USC's 38-17 win over Northwestern

LOS ANGELES — Makai Lemon had a touchdown catch and a scoring run while making 11 receptions for a career-high 161 yards, and No. 20 Southern California stayed in the College Football Playoff race with a 38-17 victory over Northwestern on Friday night.

Jayden Maiava passed for 299 yards and hit Lemon and Ja'Kobi Lane for TDs as the Trojans (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten) remained unbeaten at the Coliseum this season with a persistent offensive performance featuring 482 total yards. That's the most allowed all season by the stingy Northwestern defense, which also hadn't allowed a 200-yard passer.

King Miller rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown, and Maiava also rushed for a score. Lemon scored on a 4-yard jet sweep with 11:31 to play to put away back-to-back conference victories over Nebraska and Northwestern, keeping the Trojans in the national title conversation into mid-November for the first time since coach Lincoln Riley's first season in 2022.

“We were excited about the challenge that this became,” Riley said. “Flipping time zones, the tough battle in Lincoln just a few days ago, and then having to turn over and play a really good football team coming off a bye week. I just felt like these last two games would be a really important stretch for this season, and it’s cool to see our guys respond.”

Preston Stone passed for 150 yards and Caleb Komolafe rushed for 118 yards and a score for the Wildcats (5-4, 3-3), who lost for just the second time in six games. Griffin Wilde caught an early TD pass for Northwestern, which has never beaten USC in six meetings — the most recent in the 1996 Rose Bowl.

USC got another spectacular performance from its impressive receiver duo. While the prolific Lemon put up 165 total yards, Lane had seven catches for 74 yards — and he put the Trojans up 28-14 midway through the third quarter when he juggled and controlled a one-handed TD catch under tight coverage from Fred Davis.

“Whenever the ball is in the air, I just try to make the most out of the opportunity, because they don't come often,” Lane said.

After struggling to mount drives of significance while holding off Nebraska last week, USC opened its first home game in nearly a month with a 16-play drive culminating in Lemon's seventh TD catch of the season. Maiava had nine completions on the drive — the same number he managed all night in Lincoln.

“I mean, we knew Nebraska was an outlier in their passing game,” Wildcats coach David Braun said. "Nebraska had done a great job against USC, but you knew USC was going to find a way to respond. They’re talented. Talented wide receivers. Quarterback plays at a very high level. Coach Riley is a great coach. And ultimately, we ended up playing on our heels most of the night.”

Northwestern countered with a 13-play drive ending in Wilde's short TD catch, but Maiava made a 6-yard TD run after USC extended its next drive with a clever fake punt on a pass thrown by third-string quarterback Sam Huard, who changed his uniform number before the game to No. 80 — the same as punter Sam Johnson.

Maiava the missile

Komolafe's TD run tied it again, and Northwestern should have taken the lead when defensive lineman Najee Story made an interception and rumbled 25 yards toward the end zone — but a diving Maiava dramatically dislodged the ball from the 300-pound Story at the goal line, forcing a touchback.

“There’s part of me that’s like, ‘Man, if he’s going to score, don’t hit him,'” Riley said. “That dude was pretty big. But knowing (Maiava), he was going to go, and he did. When your quarterback is like that, it just permeates throughout the entire team. We had a lot of guys making tough, physical plays tonight, and that was one of them.”

Miller's 12-yard TD run shortly before halftime put USC ahead for good.

“I feel like that’s just part of the game of football, so we've just really got to focus on the next play," Komolafe said of the touchback sequence. “There’s emotions everywhere. It happens.”

Takeaways

Northwestern: The Wildcats' vaunted pass defense couldn't slow the Big Ten's best passing offense enough, but they performed fairly well on the Hollywood stage. They've got to find one more win among Michigan, Minnesota and Illinois to ensure bowl eligibility for the second time in Braun's three seasons.

USC: The Trojans rose to the moment on a short week and took care of business — something Riley's teams have repeatedly failed to do for the past three seasons. They'll likely rise in the AP Top 25 and in the CFP rankings, but they would need to run the remaining table to make Riley's first Playoff appearance at USC.