For as much as USC had controlled the game Friday night and as well as the team had played across the board for the most part, no Trojans fan could ignore at least some fear of potential impending doom as Rutgers shaved a 19-point deficit to just 8 midway through the third quarter.

This Trojans team had been here before, leading in the second half (in the fourth quarter, for that matter) of each of its four losses in the previous five weeks only to see it spectacularly unravel time after time.

In this case, Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis had connected on a 45-yard shot to Dymere Miller on third-and-5 against USC's depleted secondary and immediately followed that with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Christian Dremel to make it a one-score game and give Trojans fans flashbacks to each of the crushing collapses that sunk this season.

But that wouldn't be the story this time -- finally.

On the very next play from scrimmage, Miller Moss hit Makai Lemon over the middle as the sophomore receiver veered to the right sideline only to change course and end up all the way on the left sideline on the way to a 70-yard reception down to the Rutgers' 5. Moss would later cap the drive with a 7-yard quarterback keeper for a touchdown and the Trojans were never threatened again on the way to a much-needed 42-20 win inside the Coliseum.

With that, USC (4-4, 2-4 Big Ten) snapped a three-game losing streak and exorcised -- at least for a night -- what had become a haunting inability to close out games in losing four times by an average of 3.5 points.

"We really needed that bad, just to come out and play dominant all four quarters, just display that we can play all four quarters and make it carry on to the next week," running back Woody Marks said. "Just to show everybody that we got it in us."

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"I don't know if it's relief as much affirmation of who we are and what we believe in," Moss said. "I give a ton of credit to the guys in that locker room, the staff, the whole program on how we've continued to come together and continued to fight through adversity. And yeah, it's great to close one out and hopefully we get on a run here the back half of the season."

Moss, who had contributed some costly interceptions in recent weeks, was sharp from start to finish Friday, completing 20 of 28 passes for 308 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 picks and the rushing score.

Marks was impressive as usual, rushing 15 times for 94 yards and 3 touchdowns along with 5 catches for 48 yards.

A USC defense that was missing four of its five starters in the secondary -- on top of earlier attrition like transfer-bound defensive tackle Bear Alexander, linebacker and early-season defensive MVP Eric Gentry (redshirting after multiple concussions) and top edge rusher Anthony Lucas (season-ending injury) -- did enough to keep Rutgers (4-4, 1-4) at bay.

But the story of the night was Lemon, who delivered the jolt these Trojans needed -- time and time again.

He finished with 4 catches for a career-high 134 yards and a touchdown -- including a 40-yard catch-and-run touchdown to cap the scoring late in the third quarter -- and also had 122 yards on 3 kickoff returns, including an 80-yarder in the first quarter that set up one of Marks' 3 TDs runs and an early 14-3 lead.

"I thought he just made some really competitive catches, some big plays after the catch, just playing fast, playing confident," coach Lincoln Riley said. "It was kind of his night when the ball found him, and he made some really good, aggressive plays, so he just continues to improve as a player."

This was actually the third straight game Lemon has led the Trojans in catches as his role has expanded since his return from a Week 4 injury that cost him 1.5 games. He has 18 catches for 296 yards over the last three games and now leads the Trojans overall with 378 receiving yards.

It sure looks like the sophomore has established himself as USC's No. 1 WR at this point -- which comes as no surprise to his teammates.

"Just what he's been doing, it hasn't been anything short of what I know that he can do. In camp, he was balling every day. I think, honestly, he was the MVP of camp in my eyes, and I thought I played great as well, but I thought he was the MVP of camp," fellow wideout Kyle Ford said. "So it's cool to see that translate out"

Said Marks: "It's just amazing, I think he had 4 catches, 134 yards, 33.5 average -- I know the whole thing. Yeah, I'm really proud of him just to have that game."

USC's top-end goals -- College Football Playoff berth, competing for a Big Ten championship -- are off the table, and nothing can change that at this point. The 27-24 loss at Michigan on a go-ahead Wolverines touchdown in the final minute; the fourth-and-goal touchdown to win it for Minnesota in the final minute (on official review); blowing a 14-point halftime lead, 7-point fourth quarter lead and missing a field goal in overtime to lose 33-30 to a top-5 Penn State team; and then collapsing last week at Maryland to turn a 14-point fourth quarter lead into a 29-28 loss will ultimately define this season for the Trojans.

But it doesn't mean the rest doesn't matter -- they sure played Friday night like it matters a great deal to them.

"Coach Riley had a great talk with us leading up to the game and in the locker room before the game," Marks said. "[He said] we've got to come out and dominate, play USC football. We watched a couple plays from [former USC teams]. ... It was Matt Leinart just dropping back, throwing the ball, making plays. Everybody out there having fun. You could see that they were having fun on the field by the way their body language was, dancing around, jumping up and down, scoring touchdowns, defense getting sacks and everything.

"Just to see that, it was pretty amazing to come out and see the team have the same chemistry that they had on the field."

Marks embodies that attitude at all times and he was a catalyst yet again in this one as USC scored touchdowns on all four of its first-half drives to take a 28-12 halftime lead.

Marks punched it in from 1 yard out on the opening drive after an earlier touchdown pass to Zachariah Branch was questionably overturned on review. In past weeks, that might have thrown these Trojans off, but this time Marks scored two plays later to build some early momentum.

After the defense got a third-down stop in the red zone and forced Rutgers to settle for a field goal, Lemon's 80-yard kickoff return set up a 4-play, 20-yard scoring drive and another 1-yard Marks touchdown. It was Lemon's first game taking over kick return duties from Branch, who remains the team's primary punt returner.

After another defense stop -- on fourth-and-4 from the USC 30 as Kaliakmanis took a shot in the end zone and overthrew an open receiver -- Moss went 5-of-6 passing for 64 yards on the ensuing drive, capped by a highlight-reel 11-yard touchdown reception by Ford, who planted a defender with a stiff arm on his way in for his first score of the year and a 21-3 lead.

Marks' third rushing touchdown of the game -- and eighth of the season -- came on a 22-yard run in the second quarter that showcased both his vision and ability to turn on the jets when he finds his crease.

"It felt great. It's Friday -- it felt like high school back again. I don't think I had 3 touchdowns in my career in one game," Marks said.

Defensively, USC was without starting safety Kamari Ramsey, starting cornerbacks Jaylin Smith and Jacobe Covington and starting nickel Greedy Vance Jr. due to injury, and instead went with a combination of DeCarlos Nicholson, John Humphrey and Prophet Brown at corner, moved safety Akili Arnold to nickel and leaned mostly on Zion Branch and Bryson Shaw at safety.

It wasn't perfect. The secondary showed its vulnerabilities -- including on a second-quarter Rutgers touchdown drive to make it a 21-9 game and later on the third quarter touchdown that briefly made it a one-score contest -- and allowed Kaliakmanis to pass for a season-high 313 yards and 27 completions (on 47 attempts).

But considering the circumstances, the defense did its part.

"Coach [Doug] Belk, I can't say enough about the guy. He's come in from the beginning, he's been great to me, he's been great to the whole unit, we love him -- you can ask anyone in that unit. I'm old in college football, this is my favorite unit I've been a part of. It's really a family feel," Shaw said of USC's DBs coach. "Belk, he's really done a good job being the father figure for all of us. I mean, he coaches more than just football with us. You can tell he really cares about us as individuals. We really appreciate that and want to go play for him, coach [D'Anton] Lynn and all those guys."

Said Zion Branch: "We practice with each other and try to mix and match who's out there at the same time so it was kind of comfortable -- it just felt like practice ... We've kind of just got that next-man-up mentality."

Riley was asked about the toll the aforementioned injuries have taken on the defense and he reiterated his consistent message to the team as a whole.

"I mean, we've had a lot. I don't know if it's unprecedented. I've had better years, right, with that, but it's just part of it. Like, every team has their challenges and we know what our challenges are. Again, our guys stepped up and had a really winning performance defensively, and hopefully we'll get an opportunity to get some of those guys back. But even if we don't then there's several guys that are going to grow up and learn a lot from this win and the way we played tonight," Riley said.

"Again, we're a no excuses program, we've got a no excuses mentality right now -- like whatever is stacked up against us, like we really don't give a damn. We're just going to keep going."

The Trojans showed that much Friday night -- and in the reality that they have truly had a chance to win every game with fourth quarter leads in each.

Ultimately, this USC team is what it is -- 4-4 and far out of reach of its ultimate goals this year -- but there's four regular-season games left to get the ending right, at least.

"Super proud of this football team. Just all that we've been through, to turn around here on a short week, come play the way we did with our backs against the wall, missing obviously some key players -- had a number of guys step up. There's no excuses in this program," Riley said. "... I thought one of the big pushes for us in this game is we know coach [Greg] Schiano's reputation, Rutgers' reputation, and being the most physical team was really, really important to us. We harped on that this week and I thought our guys rose to the occasion and played just a really physical football game all the way around.

"So, obviously great to get the win, excited locker room in there, fun to see the guys with big smiles on their faces and we'll look to take this extra day obviously this upcoming week, hope to use it to our advantage to freshen up a little bit and get ready for the stretch run."

Finally, Riley was asked, if the adversity and setbacks of previous weeks changed his approach in any way this time.

​"No, stayed the course," he said. "I think when you have adversity it tests your resolve and tests how committed you are to the process and the things you do, and going through this last few weeks has made me even more sure of where I'm at and what we're doing."