For just long enough to rankle an already wary fan base, this looked like anything but the kind of showing USC needed to deliver coming off a bye week.
Quarterback JT Daniels had already thrown two quick interceptions and Colorado had taken an early lead in the second quarter as Laviska Shenault Jr. ran untouched for a 49-yard touchdown against a Trojans defense that looked confused before the snap.
But no, that was not the turning point of the game Saturday night. That would come next.
Daniels and veteran receivers Michael Pittman and Tyler Vaughns suddenly turned the offense from bumbling to (temporarily) rumbling, and the Trojans defense would not look vulnerable again until the game was well in hand, even scoring its own points on an Ajene Harris interception return for touchdown.
All told, USC reeled off 28 straight points after that early deficit on the way to a one-sided 31-20 win over previously-undefeated No. 19 Colorado before a crowd of 57,615 at the Coliseum.
In the end, this was for the most part indeed the kind of night the Trojans (4-2, 3-1 Pac-12) needed.
"It was a really good win for our team -- a win that allows us to control our destiny the rest of the way," coach Clay Helton said afterward. "... I thought defensively it was a tremendous effort. I think anytime you have 16 tackles for loss in a game, it just felt like that defense was playing in Colorado's backfield all night."
No, it wasn't an even offensive performance. USC went into halftime with zero rushing yards and finished with 66. The passing game that came alive in the second quarter stalled thereafter. But the unit has often relied on the big play this season, and it worked enough to grab a commanding lead.
On the series after Colorado (5-1, 2-1) struck first on that long touchdown run, the Trojans looked at risk for ceding all momentum to the Buffaloes. A false start and a combination of drop/bad pass from Daniels to tight end Josh Falo set up a third-and-15 and a potential quick punt.
But Daniels found Pittman for a 19-yard completion and a huge first down. Then, on a second-and-10 after another offensive penalty, Daniels hit Vaughns across the middle for 28 yards. And on the very next play, he uncorked one of his confident drop-back-and-fire strikes down the right sideline to hit Vaughns perfectly in stride in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown, tying the game.
As for momentum, USC was about to seize all of it.
Two offensive series later, Daniels chucked one down the middle of the field to Pittman. It was well underthrown, but Pittman adjusted before the Colorado defensive back could and made the catch look easy before running the rest of the way for a 65-yard touchdown.
And on the Trojans' next possession, it was Daniels to Pittman again and again -- first a 39-yard completion on a terrific grab by Pittman in traffic and then a 9-yard touchdown he reeled in just in front of the goal line while forcing his way into the end zone.
Just like that, USC was up 21-7 and Pittman had more than doubled his previous season-highs.
"We've shown some signs of positivity and that we can make those plays, so I feel like it's a good like booster for us," Pittman said.
The junior receiver hadn't totaled more than 4 catches or 72 receiving yards in a game yet this fall. By halftime, he had 5 receptions for 144 yards and 2 TDs (which is where he'd finish, also drawing a pass interference flag against the defense on another downfield target late in the game).
"We saw a lot of pressure tonight. They came into the park to see if we could pitch and catch," Helton said. "And I thought Michael Pittman had an unbelievable night, as well as the rest of our receivers. They made big play after big play and really got us some separation going in at halftime."
If the game wasn't in hand at that point -- and considering some of USC's letdowns this fall, it was fair to make no assumptions -- the Trojans more or less put it away with 5:16 left in the third quarter when Harris corralled a pass off the hand of Shenault, secured his own bobble and ran 6-yards into the end zone for the touchdown.
It was Harris' sixth career interception and third career pick-6, tying the program record.
That made it 28-7 and all but ensured USC would stretch its home winning streak to 19 games and take control in the Pac-12 South standings.
Daniels finished 17 of 34 for 272 yards (255 in the first half), 3 TDs and 2 INTs -- and it could have been more as Amon-Ra St. Brown had a would-be 68-yard touchdown catch go off his outstretched finger tips down the seam in the fourth quarter.
"I thought he settled in," Helton said. "He got fooled on the first pass. We were going to be aggressive in the ballgame. We knew we were going to have to take shots. We kind of had a feeling they were going to come in and pressure us, plus they had played so much man coverage and so much adding safeties to the box in the quarters that we thought we were going to have to go up top. So it was a heavy shot game.
"We didn't hit all of them. We missed a couple of them, especially in the second half, but when we did the defense did their job."
The story of this game was most certainly the defense.
Colorado had come into the night ranked 18th nationally in total offense at 490.6 yards per game.
The Buffaloes finished with 265 yards, while Shenault ended up with 9 catches for 72 yards, plus that 49-yard touchdown run.
The Trojans pressured Buffs quarterback Steven Montez relentlessly, racking up 4 sacks (1.5 for Porter Gustin, 1 each for Jordan Iosefa and Liam Jimmons and a half sack for Malik Dorton) and, as Helton highlighted, a whopping 16 tackles for loss. And they did all of this without senior middle linebacker and leading tackler Cameron Smith, who sat out the game with a hamstring strain.
His replacement, freshman Palaie Gaoteote, had his breakout moment while showing USC fans what the future looks like at the position. He had already tallied a team-high 9 tackles and 2 tackles for loss when he was knocked out of the game in the third quarter after getting the worst of helmet-to-helmet contact with Shenault.
Senior Reuben Peters, a former walk-on, then took over for Gaoteote and filled in admirably as the third-string middle linebacker while finishing with 6 tackles and 2 tackles for loss.
Harris finished with 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and added a touchdown-saving pass break-up late in the fourth quarter. As for his pick-6, he took the football over to Helton after that big play.
"That's something that we do as a defense when we get a turnover. So I got the pick, I was trying to find the ball and I found it and I had to bring it over to coach," Harris said.
Said Helton, sitting next to him in the press conference: "Another pick-6 for 27, he has a knack at that. ... My favorite thing in the world is non-offensive touchdowns, and he got us one."
Colorado added 13 points in the fourth quarter and recovered an on-side kick to try for more, but the Buffaloes never truly threatened the lead late.
The ending got a little sloppy, but the Trojans had taken care of business in those first three quarters.
USC has now won three straight games since its 1-2 start, but neither of the last two were comfortable. This one, after an inauspicious start, was at least that.
