It was probably the most disappointing game for the USC defense all season, as the Trojans inexplicably had zero -- literally zero -- answers for Utah tight end Dalton Kincaid.

Kincaid hauled in 16 catches for 234 yards and a touchdown in that 43-42 Utes win. The athletic 6-foot-4 redshirt senior is a fine player, arguably one of the best at his position in the country, but the fact remains he has only two other 100-yard games in three seasons at Utah (plus 11 catches for 99 yards a couple weeks ago vs. Oregon).

His previous yardage high with the Utes was 107. His overall career best was a 6-catch, 154-yard performance for San Diego in a lopsided loss to Cal Poly way back in 2019.

Yet down the stretch against the Trojans, he was unstoppable. On the Utes' game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, Kincaid hauled in all 4 of his targets for 50 yards. Led by its star tight end, the Utes threw for a season-high 424 yards while totaling 562 total yards.

No. 4-ranked USC (11-1) hasn't lost since that mid-October evening in Salt Lake City, but that defensive breakdown has stuck with defensive coordinator Alex Grinch -- especially as he prepared the Trojans this week for the rematch with the No. 11 Utes (9-3) in the Pac-12 championship game Friday in Las Vegas.

"As a competitor, you are certainly reminded of it. It didn't take playing him again to be reminded about it -- it's a constant that way. Anytime someone has a career game against you, there's a level of embarrassment about it," Grinch said this week. "But you also have to, if a guy scores 40 in a basketball game and you have to go play him again you can't assume he's going to score 40 again. ...

"He made some big-time plays [on] big-time throws, and we didn't do a very good job getting him on the ground. If he makes ... big-time catches and we don't tackle him, I know exactly what's going to happen Friday. It's going to be the same damn thing. .... It's all hands on deck with an opponent like this."