If the Trojans thought unranked UC Berkeley would’ve been an easy task, the Golden Bears proved this assumption faulty. With many USC fans making the weekend trip up to Strawberry Canyon for possibly the final time, the Trojans’ majestic comeback victory sent fans home happy, defeating Cal in the two teams’ highest combined scoring affair in their 108-year matchup history.

A protest at midfield may have delayed the start of the game, but it didn’t affect the soon-to-come fast tempo shared between both offenses.

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While the No. 24 Trojans (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12) started hot, scoring 17 points in the first quarter, lackluster offense in the second quarter gave Cal (3-5, 1-4) golden opportunities to swing the momentum heading into halftime. At the break, Cal led 28-17.

“Regardless of what happened, good or bad, in those first three quarters, this time you’re on the road, there’s nowhere to hide,” said Head Coach Lincoln Riley in a press conference Saturday evening. “You’ve got to go find a way to win it, and we did it even despite some mistakes.”

From the jump, running backs stole the show in the thrilling battle. Redshirt junior running back MarShawn Lloyd and redshirt senior running back Austin Jones shared the backfield for USC and made immediate impacts. In the first quarter alone, both scored USC’s only touchdowns of the half.

“Coming into today, I was just ready whenever my name was called,” Lloyd said. “You’ve got to be able to block out the noise and just go on, like ‘What’s next?’ That’s the mentality that we’ve got to be on when you play this sport.”

Lloyd’s 72 receiving yards complimented his 115 on the ground. When the running back wasn’t in the end zone, he was helping the Trojans find it. Trailing by 14 early in the fourth quarter, a 53-yard reception by Lloyd set up USC for first and goal, and the Trojans would cap off the drive with a touchdown shortly after.

Lloyd would come up huge once again for the Trojans later on, with a 56-yard run to put USC in position for its eventual game-winning touchdown.

On the Cal side, sophomore running back Jaydn Ott appeared unstoppable in the first half, scoring three touchdowns and propelling the Bears to a halftime lead.

While USC’s defense did allow a whopping 49 points, it was able to successfully force turnovers. Cal lost three fumbles, and redshirt freshman quarterback Fernando Mendoza was picked off by USC’s junior inside linebacker Eric Gentry, giving USC prime position to score yet again. With the game on the line, though, junior safety Jaylin Smith’s heroic pass deflection on the Bears’ two-point conversion try preserved the Trojans’ 50-49 lead with under a minute remaining.

The USC defense created opportunities for its offensive counterpart, especially in the fourth quarter, where Cal punted, fumbled and turned the ball over on downs.

“There’s a certain sense of excitement when the defense goes out there and makes plays for us,” said junior quarterback Caleb Williams. “But, when we get in that huddle right before we go out there, and have our plays and stuff, it’s a sense of control that we have to have.”

Williams had a solid game, with 369 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. Although he didn’t throw any interceptions, he did lose a fumble, and his offensive line struggled, allowing him to be sacked four times.

One aspect of this game that differed from the back-to-back losses was the Trojans’ ability to successfully complete a comeback. USC trailed by 14 in the fourth quarter but efficiently scored three touchdowns in under eight minutes to take the lead again.

“We’re still making way too many self-inflicted errors, I mean the couple of runs that popped in the first half are prime examples,” Riley said. “We had the big turnover right after the defense had gotten the turnover.”

The win surely wasn’t pretty, and miscues were aplenty for the Trojans. In a bizarre turn of events that resulted in the Trojans being awarded an extra play before the third quarter, USC had the chance to cut Cal’s lead to one score with a field goal, but redshirt sophomore kicker Denis Lynch missed it. This was one of several errors the Trojans would’ve liked to have back.

Nonetheless, the Trojans did what they needed to do to win against Cal. Their next task, however, the No. 5 Washington Huskies (8-0, 5-0), will not be any easier.

“My job is to get this team ready, that’s sitting 5-1 in the best conference in America, to try to go win it,” Riley said. “Hopefully we can keep finding a way to get it done and with the fight we showed today, I wouldn’t count us out.”

The Trojans will head home to take on the undefeated Huskies at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.