USC gets tough on the road and grinds out crucial win over Nebraska

USC might've finally gotten that breakthrough victory it has been looking for the past couple of seasons. The Trojans rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to beat Nebraska on the road, 21-17.

With the win, the Trojans, who were ranked 23rd in the AP Poll, could move into the top 20 of the first College Football Playoff standings, which will be revealed Tuesday. USC had lost consecutive road games coming into Saturday.

"Is it a sign of progress," Lincoln Riley said. "Of course it is. "

Jayden Maiava does it with his legs

The junior quarterback had one of the worst passing games of his career, going 9-of-23 for 135 yards and an interception. The Cornhuskers secondary was as good as advertised and did not seem to give the USC receivers any room to operate.

But Maiava had a career-high 62 yards with a 16-yard touchdown that put the Trojans in position to tie the game.

​Maiava's effort was part of a Trojans ground game that churned out 202 yards. King Miller set the tone with 129 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. 

"We ran the ball extremely well. And they kind of dared us, in some ways, the way that they played, to continue to run the ball and run it well," Riley added.

​Ruling the road and heading back West

Riley sent a little shot to the Big Ten schedule makers for having the Trojans play a Saturday night game two time zones away going into a short week when they will host Northwestern next Friday night. He said it will be a great challenge and added that he was excited to see how his team would handle it.

"Road wins are never easy. They just aren't. They just find a way to never be easy, and it's the hardest thing to do in college football," Riley said. "This was a big win for our program and if you keep winning these, you just keep putting yourself in better and better position and this team is in a great position right now."

Riley should have no problems with the schedule the rest of the way. USC has three of its final four games at home and will not leave the Pacific time zone again.