For the first time since 2016, USC notched a win against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

For that matter, these Trojans are doing a lot of things for the first time in quite a while.

With comfortable 38-27 victory over the No. 15-ranked Irish, the No. 6 Trojans improved to 11-1 for the first time since 2017, have a chance to reach the College Football Playoff for the first time ever (since it was created in 2014) and sure look set to crown their first Heisman Trophy winner since Reggie Bush in 2005.

All of this just 12 months after reaching the program's 30-year low point with a 4-8 finish last fall.

Coach Lincoln Riley was asked if he truly thought this was all possible in his first season.

"I didn't think yes or no. It's like right now, you just go to work and you just start putting it together as fast as you can and start building the culture as fast as you can," he said. "I can't say, like yes, I knew this was going to happen, but at the same time, I don't believe in putting limits on what you can accomplish. Especially if you get the right people in the building and everybody decides to be unselfish and work hard for each other. That's what this group's done. They're a great example of when you do that, like, the worst thing you could ever do is put limits on what you can accomplish.

"So you guys know me, I've stood right by what I told you our expectations were from Day 1. A lot of people thought I was crazy, and that's fine. The people within the walls knew what we were about and I think had a sense of what we were building. It's been a fun run."

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The Trojans' lone loss of the season came by one point in the final minute on the road at Utah, 43-42 in mid October, and they know get a chance to avenge that blemish with a rematch against the Utes (9-3) in the Pac-12 championship game Friday in Las Vegas.

Utah advanced by tiebreaker as a result of Oregon losing to Oregon State and Washington beating Washington State, as the Utes, Ducks and Huskies all finished 7-2 in Pac-12 play.

The Trojans' place in that game was already secured entering this week -- they were playing for their College Football Playoff hopes Saturday.

The old Trojans had been routinely outclassed by their rivals in losing four straight matchups in the series, but these Trojans -- Lincoln Riley's Trojans -- flipped the script this time, jumping out to an early lead and never ceding control to the delight of the largest USC crowd in the Coliseum in a handful of years with an announced attendance of 72,613.

"Obviously, great win. It's fun to see the Coli like that. Sitting up there at that press conference close to 12 months ago and kind of just imagining that, and these guys have brought it to life. I don't know how long it's been since it was like that -- I haven't been here before [this season] -- but man, it was electric in there," Riley said. "That's kind of what I remember watching as a young kid."

The USC offense scored with ease on its opening drive, marching down the field for a touchdown as Caleb Williams confidently managed the possession, capping it with an 11-yard catch-and-run score to Tahj Washington.

Meanwhile, USC's defense locked in on stopping Notre Dame's potent run game early, smothering the Irish (8-4) at the line of scrimmage with regularity as the Trojans held the visitors to just 37 yards on 3.5 yards per carry in the first half. Though the Trojans had some odd miscues on both sides of the ball early, the dominance of Williams and the defensive front helped USC take a 17-7 lead into halftime.

"Defensively, I honestly kind of got sick and tired of hearing how well we were just going to get pounded in the run game. That didn't happen," Riley said. "I'm really proud of the way we stopped the run, tackled, caused turnovers, made big plays -- we played really well defensively. Offensively, we made enough plays certainly to win it. We had some tough, gritty plays against a very good defense, and then obviously special teams some huge plays on the night.

The defense struggled more in the second half, particularly against tight end Michael Mayer, but USC's offense kept rolling on the back of fantastic rushing production from Austin Jones (25 carries for 154 yards) and continued wizardry from its quarterback.

Williams made another statement in his push for the Heisman Trophy, completing 18 of 22 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown while also rushing for 3 TDs, as he made one spectacular play after another.

The Trojans closed out the game comfortably, never allowing the Irish to get closer than 10 points after halftime. Safety Calen Bullock effectively sealed the game with his fifth interception of the season, in the final minutes.

USC's win puts it squarely in position for a College Football Playoff berth given the losses by No. 5 LSU and No. 2 Ohio State earlier in the day. One more win in the Pac-12 championship game next week should be enough to secure a spot in the final four for the Trojans and cap this remarkable turnaround Riley, Williams and Co. have delivered.

"I'm proud of the guys. I'm proud of the way we finished, separating from a really good football team that the last several weeks had been on a really good run, had a lot of momentum coming in here," Riley said. "So I told the guys in the locker room this has been a tremendous run, but there's obviously a lot more left out there for us."

First quarter

10:36 -- USC: Tahj Washington 11-yard pass from Caleb Williams (Denis Lynch kick), USC 7-0

3:29 -- USC: Denis Lynch 31-yard field goal, USC 10-0

Second quarter

6:14 -- ND: Michael Mayer 22-yard pass from Drew Pyne (Blake Grupe kick), USC 10-7

0:34 -- USC: Caleb Williams 5-yard run (Denis Lynch kick), USC 17-7

Third quarter

8:21-- USC: Raleek Brown 5-yard run (Denis Lynch kick), USC 24-7

5:54-- ND: Deion Colzie 23-yard pass from Drew Pyne (Blake Grupe kick), USC 24-14

Fourth quarter

14:53-- USC: Caleb Williams 3-yard run (Denis Lynch kick), USC 31-14

11:29-- ND: Logan Diggs 5-yard run (Blake Grupe kick), USC 31-21

2:35-- USC: Caleb Williams 16-yard run (Denis Lynch kick), USC 38-21

1:02-- ND: Michael Mayer 24-yard pass from Drew Pyne (2-Pt attempt failed), USC 38-27

USC led by only 3 points as the first half dwindled to a close. Despite their control of the game from the first snap, the Trojans were in danger of facing a tight score going into halftime with Notre Dame set to receive the second half kickoff.

With less than a minute on the clock, Caleb Williams pulled off a miraculous scramble on a second-and-8 free play from the Irish 11, spiraling deep into the backfield before breaking free and firing deep to the back of the end zone.

His throw gave Tahj Washington a chance to reach the football for a touchdown, forcing the defender to commit a holding penalty and push USC onto the doorstep of the end zone. Williams capped the drive with a 6-yard rushing touchdown on a read option, securely putting the Trojans ahead by 10 points just before the half.

QB Caleb Williams

Williams was once again in control of the game from the jump, keeping the Trojans offense humming with his playmaking ability and accuracy. Williams scored with both his arm and his legs in the first half, helping USC jump out to a 17-7 lead at halftime. He was spectacular as a scrambler, making unfathomable escapes as he jumped, spun and juked his way around pass rushers to extend plays and keep the Trojans offense chugging.

Williams finished the first half 10 of 13 with 143 yards, 2 total touchdowns, and a 58-yard punt that wound up being the Trojans’ longest of the year.

He was a walking highlight reel all game, pulling off some of the day’s most insane plays in the final quarters to pull his team away from the Fighting Irish. Williams was fantastic to the finish, leading USC to a relatively comfortable win and ending the game as the clear frontrunner for the Heisman trophy. He finished with 257 total yards and 4 touchdowns with no turnovers.

DE Tuli Tuipulotu

To nobody’s surprise, Tuli Tuipulotu was once again a game-changer for the Trojans on the defensive line. His efforts up front played a big part in USC’s success against Notre Dame’s running game, playing his assignments masterfully to prevent lanes from forming and frequently generating penetration.

He was his usual self as a pass rusher, creating multiple pressures on Notre Dame quarterback Drew Pyne and landing a number of hits on him at the point of the pass. Tuipulotu managed a big sack on Pyne to end the first half, dusting the right tackle around the arc to wrangle the quarterback. His presence posed problems for Notre Dame through the final moments of the game, helping to cement a sound win for USC.

Faced with a second-and-13, Williams pulled off one of the most incredible escapes of the college football season late in the third quarter. After dropping back deep in the pocket to throw, Williams found nothing open, continuing to backpedal further into the backfield as the pressure around him condensed. With rushers closing in, Williams suddenly spun away, looping around the back of the pocket in a perfect circle.

Seeing no one open, Williams bolted upfield, destroying the angles of the rushers in the backfield and weaving his way past defenders at the second level for a masterful gain of 19 yards. Williams ran an astounding 81.6 total yards on the play putting in a Herculean individual effort to get USC the first down and setting up a touchdown soon after.

Surprisingly to some, the Trojans dominated the trenches on both sides of the ball. On offense, they worked Notre Dame's imposing defensive front handily as they cleared running lanes to the tune of 204 rushing yards. On defense, they totally choked off the run game for the Irish early on, holding them to just 3.5 yards per carry in the first half as USC jumped out to a two-score lead.

As the game continued, Notre Dame managed to rip off a few longer runs and made a handful of plays in the passing game, but the Trojans defense largely held up well to hold the Irish to just 90 yards on 26 attempts (including Pyne's -11 sack yardage). The defense also snagged 2 takeaways in the second half, allowing USC to extend its lead further (a fumble giftwrapped by Pyne and recovered by Ralen Goforth and Calen Bullock's interception).

However, above everything else, it was the masterful play of Williams that won this game for USC. The sophomore quarterback was sensational all night as he made good decisions, put together incredible escapes and fired the ball with accuracy to control the game from start to finish.

He was in command from start to finish as he smoothly moved the Trojan offense up and down the field despite the highly-capable Notre Dame defense lined up across from him. Williams firmly cemented his place in pole-position for the Heisman Trophy with his performance and played a key part in bringing USC to just one game away from its first-ever CFP berth.

Passing

Caleb Williams: 18/22, 232 yards, 1 TD

Rushing

Austin Jones: 25 carries, 154 yards

Caleb Williams: 9 carries, 35 yards, 3 TDs

Jordan Addison: 1 carry, 13 yards

Receiving

Jordan Addison: 3 catches, 45 yards

Tahj Washington: 3 catches, 34 yards, 1 TD

Mario Williams: 4 catches, 37 yards

Lake McRee: 2 catches, 37 yards

Raleek Brown: 2 catches, 24 yards

Brenden Rice: 1 catch, 25 yards

Defense

Eric Gentry: 9 tackles (7 solo), 1 forced fumble

Bryson Shaw: 6 tackles (5 solo)

Calen Bullock: 5 tackles (3 solo), 1 interception