Makai Lemon catches big TD pass after benching, and No. 19 USC races past rival UCLA 29-10

LOS ANGELES AP Makai Lemon caught a -yard touchdown pass after being benched for the first quarter and King Miller rushed for yards and two scores in No Southern California s - success over UCLA on Saturday Jayden Maiava passed for yards and hit Lake McRee with a TD pass in the fourth quarter for the Trojans - - Big Ten who finished an unbeaten season at the Coliseum by pulling away from their archrivals to win the crosstown showdown for the third time in Lincoln Riley s four years as coach Riley benched Lemon and Ja Kobi Lane his top two receivers for the Trojans first two offensive series without disclosing the reason Both receivers then made key plays in the second half as USC pulled away and Miller iced it with his -yard TD run with left Nico Iamaleava passed for yards for the Bruins - - in their final event under interim coach Tim Skipper who replaced DeShaun Foster two games into his second season Kwazi Gilmer caught an early TD pass but UCLA was shut out in the second half Both teams wore their home uniforms in keeping with tradition in the th edition of this meeting between schools separated by about miles within Los Angeles The Trojans College Football Playoff and Big Ten title hopes ended last week with their loss at Oregon reducing this rivalry challenge s stakes to city bragging rights USC marched to Miller s first TD run on its opening drive but UCLA s Scott Taylor blocked the Trojans field goal attempt when their second drive stalled After the Bruins drove for Gilmer s -yard TD reception Mateen Bhaghani s late field goal put UCLA up - at halftime Lemon was no factor in the Trojans offense until Maiava definitively determined him down the USC sideline for a go-ahead outcome with seconds left in the third quarter After Lemon made a -yard punt return Lane made a -yard reception to set up McRee s -yard TD catch with left Takeaways UCLA The Bruins were not phoning in the finale of a lost season as evidenced by Iamaleava s decision to play despite dealing with neck spasms all week They took a halftime lead and appeared to be close to taking control of the tournament at several points before wrapping up their seventh losing season in the last years with a competitive effort against their biggest rivals USC A slow start turned into a seventh straight home success for Riley s company which had its best regular season since his first year in town The Trojans still haven t reached the heights mandated by Riley s massive contract and this initiative s heritage but they ve got momentum heading into bowl season and Up next UCLA A thorough initiative reboot under a new coach USC An upper-tier bowl competition Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top throughout the season Sign up here and here AP News mobile app AP college football https apnews com hub ap-top- -college-football-poll and https apnews com hub college-football Source