ANN ARBOR, Michigan -- USC's rejuvenated defense had kept Michigan scoreless for six straight possessions, including four three-and-outs and a game-swinging fumble, but the way the final quarter and a half of this game played out it was clear nothing could be assumed Saturday.

So sure enough, with the Trojans needing to just hold on for a couple more minutes to close out a momentous win in their Big Ten debut, Michigan's Kalel Mullings promptly ripped off a 63-yard run up the middle, breaking two big tackles along the way to set the hosts up at the USC 17 with the Trojans clinging to a 4-point lead.

It would ultimately come down to a fourth-and-goal from the 2 with 41 seconds on the clock, with Mullings getting just over the goal line to send the No. 18-ranked Wolverines to a 27-24 win while leaving the No. 11 Trojans deflated inside the Big House.

"We got all the fight. I don't think it was they wanted it more than us -- it was a four-quarter fight like you saw -- but when it comes down to big games like this, you've got to execute," linebacker Easton Mascarenas-Arnold said. "And credit to Michigan -- they executed better than us."

Michigan (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) extended its program-record 23-game regular-season Big Ten winning streak while spoiling the Trojans' debut in their new conference as they drop to 2-1, 0-1.

"It was two good football teams going at it. Yeah, of course, as competitors you're disappointed. We gave ourselves an opportunity to win a football game, which doesn't happen a whole lot here. So I thought we put ourselves in position, but you've got to finish it, you've got to make some of those plays in the end," coach Lincoln Riley said. "Disappointed we didn't make it, disappointed but certainly not defeated. Excited to get back and have our first one at home."

The ending was in line with how the final quarter and a half unfolded as the game shifted from a slugfest to a frenetic finish.

WATCH: Postgame press conference with Lincoln Riley, QB Miller Moss and LB Easton Mascarenas-Arnold

D'Anton Lynn's USC defense continued to show that it is nothing like recent Trojans defenses, forcing five three-and-outs, eight punts overall and a huge late turnover to keep this game from getting away from USC early.

At one point midway through the second quarter, the yardage disparity was 197 yards for Michigan and 14 for USC -- due mostly to a 53-yard Mullings touchdown run late in the first quarter and a 41-yard Donovan Edwards touchdown run in the second quarter as the Wolverines built a 14-0 lead -- but the USC defense tightened up after that with the string of six straight scoreless series.

And eventually the Trojans found some room to work offensively.

It was 14-3 at halftime, but USC opened the second half with a grinding 15-play, 75-yard drive that Moss capped with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Duce Robinson on third down to cut the score to 14-10.

The craziness then started late in the third quarter.

USC was looking to recover from a devastating 42-yard pick-6 from Moss into the hands of a charging Will Johnson to make it a 20-10 Michigan lead after a missed extra point.

The Trojans then responded immediately by moving down the field, with Woody Marks ripping off a 65-yard run to get USC to the doorstep of the goal line ...only to have a false start negate a short touchdown run and Moss then have the ball get knocked out of his hands on third down for a fumble.

It could have been a thoroughly deflating sequence for USC -- if not for Marks. The heady redshirt senior running back not only chased down Michigan defensive tackle Kenneth Grant, who had recovered the fumble, but he stripped the ball back for USC at the 27.

"It was an awesome play. Just the fight," Riley said of Marks. "I mean, it's what I would expect out of anybody in our locker room. ... So again, the question earlier about why I believe in the locker room -- plays like that."

Two plays later, Moss threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Jay Fair (with a defender in the QB's face, naturally) to make it a 3-point game, 20-17.

The USC defense followed by forcing its third straight three-and-out and Michigan punt, and when the Trojans offense couldn't do anything with that, the defense delivered in an even bigger way with linebacker Eric Gentry forcing and recovering a fumble from Wolverines running back Donovan Edwards at the Michigan 18 on the next series.

This time -- eventually -- USC capitalized as Moss threw a dart to an open Ja'Kobi Lane for a 24-yard touchdown on third-and-16, putting the Trojans up 24-20 with 7:01 to play.

It was the first lead of the game and looked like it might stand.

It wasn't meant to be in the end, though.

After Mullings' go-ahead touchdown, USC got the ball back with 37 seconds couldn't do anything with it. After an 11-yard pass from Moss to Marks, Mason Murphy was called for a false start before Moss hit Lane on a 6-yard play. A drop on third down from Zachariah Branch forced the Trojans to go for it on fourth-and-9 with Lane coming up just 1 yard short on the final play of the drive.

"The defense played their ass off, like coach said, the entire game. We didn't help them out very much early on, so that's on us and we've got to be better, especially me the first half," Moss said. "Like I said, they got a couple big plays and they're a really good team -- the team that won 22 straight Big Ten games, it's hard to come in here and win, so they're going to make their plays and we've got to help our defense out more on the offensive line."

Afterward, Riley reiterated that the outcome does nothing to shake his belief in what this team is capable of this season.

"The players and coaches in that locker room and the fight that you saw out here out of this football team today -- that gives me complete confidence," he said.

Passing

M. Moss - 28/51, 283 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception

Rushing

W. Marks - 13 carries, 100 yards

Q. Joyner - 3 rushes, 23 yards

Receiving

Z. Branch - 6 catches, 98 yards

W. Marks - 5 catches, 40 yards

J. Lane - 4 catches, 50 yards, 1 touchdown

J. Fair - 3 catches, 42 yards, 1 touchdown

K. Hudson - 3 catches, 31 yards

D. Robinson - 2 catches, 19 yards

Q. Joyner - 2 catches, 6 yards