With all three running backs healthy and fully active for USC on Saturday, Vavae Malepeai saw his role diminished again while receiving just 5 carries and 2 passing targets.
As he has often done this fall, though, he maximized his limited touches.
Malepeai had the long run of the game for the Trojans, a 41-yard scamper early in the fourth quarter, and finished with 51 yards on the ground and 2 catches for another 15 yards.
In the end, he was Pro Football Focus' highest-graded USC offensive player from that 38-35 loss to Arizona State, receiving a 78.7 on a 1-100 scale.
And in a noteworthy development he got more usage (23 snaps) than Stephen Carr (15 snaps, 4 carries) while Aca'Cedric Ware led the backfield committee (31 snaps, 13 carries).
It marked only the second time all season Malepeai has had more carries than Carr, along with the Washington State game.
Carr, despite a quiet game statistically with just 16 yards on his 4 carries, graded out well also at 73.1, receiving a 79.0 grade on his 5 pass-blocking snaps.
Redshirt-freshman quarterback Jack Sears, in his USC debut, graded out at a 74.6 overall with an 81.2 passing grade while completing 20 of 28 passes for 235 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 sacks.
According to PFF, Sears was a crisp 77.3 percent (17 of 22) on pass attempts when facing no pressure.
Here are the full PFF grades for the USC offense this week:
