Nebraska falls to No. 23 USC

LINCOLN, Neb. — The blackout crowd of 86,529 fans at Memorial Stadium did its best to rally the "Blackshirt" Cornhusker defense wearing their black jerseys for the first time since 2020, but the USC Trojans ultimately prevailed, handing Nebraska their third loss of the season.

Nebraska (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) star quarterback Dylan Raiola exited the game in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury. This was a huge loss as the Cornhuskers were only able to muster up three points after Raiola's exit. He threw for 91 yards and a touchdown on 10 of 15 passing. T.J. Lateef came in to replace him and was only able to put up seven passing yards.

USC (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) quarterback Jayden Maiava struggled in front of the hostile Cornhusker crowd. He threw for 135 yards on nine of 23 passing. His 135 yards is the lowest for USC since 2018. He also threw an interception on his first pass of the second half.

Nebraska failed to take advantage of the interception as Raiola fumbled on the sack that took him out of the game.

After a stalled USC drive and a Nebraska missed 52-yard field goal, the Trojans got a 16-yard touchdown run from Maiava. King Miller put it in the end zone for the two-point conversion to tie it at 14.

Nebraska kicker Kyle Cunanan kicked a 39-yard field goal to make it 17-14 Cornhuskers, but King Miller answered back with a 6-yard touchdown run that would prove to be the eventual game winner.

Miller, a former walk-on, finished the game with 129 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries. Maiava also added 62 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown to help the Trojans despite a tough game through the air.

Nebraska is now 0-29 against ranked teams and has yet to beat USC in program history.

USC will host Northwestern on Friday with hopes of staying alive in the conference championship race.

Nebraska will travel to UCLA to face the Bruins, who are coming off a 56-6 loss to Indiana.