LOS ANGELES–NO. 25 USC had a comfortable lead on Saturday night before Michigan State and their Quarterback,  Long Beach native Aidan Chiles cut the defecit to seven in the fourth quarter. The Trojans offense spearheaded by QB Jayden Maiava, improved  to 4-0 in a wild one at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with a 45-31 victory.

Under the lights, the Trojans offense is a juggernaut. Maiava threw three touchdown passes and rushed for two more scores, and Makai Lemon made a 40-yard TD catch and ran for another score.

Waymond Jordan was the player of the game. rushing for 157 yards and Lemon had 127 yards receiving in a fourth straight comfortable victory for USC (4-0, 2-0 Big Ten), which is off to its best start since coach Lincoln Riley’s first season in 2022.

“That was a game that had some unique twists and turns,” Riley said. “I thought we were controlling the game, (and then) obviously we had a couple of errors there.”

Everyone held their breath with 42 seconds left in the first half. for more than 10 minutes while Spartans Linebacker Wayne Matthews was lying on the field.

He was stabilized and transported on a cart after he got hurt while tackling Jordan. Matthews gave a thumbs-up to his teammates before being driven away.

Chrishon McCray slipped behind the Trojans’ secondary for an untouched 42-yard TD catch on Michigan State’s first drive, but USC scored touchdowns on four of its next five drives. Lyons’ TD catch put USC ahead 31-10 right after halftime.

It feels like i’ve written this ten times before, but USC continues  to shoot themselves in the foot with penalties and a soft defense.

In particular, the secondary is disjointed and obviously confused. Chiles lit up the Trojans with deep passes, throwing three touchdown passes and rushed for another score for the Spartans, who fell short of only their second 4-0 start in the past decade. Chiles accounted for 243 of the Spartans’ 333 total yards.

the defense made repeated mistakes in coverage and in discipline, accounting for most of the Trojans’ 10 penalties. Simply put: USC must improve on defense if they expect to win the BIG 10, and reach the College Football Playoff.

The Trojans next game will be a tough trip to Illinois is looming. USC visits the University of Illinois on Saturday,  September 27.