Now that UCLA has won yet another Los Angeles city championship, the Bruins can focus their full attention on the national picture.
Freshman DeShaun Foster rushed for 109 yards on 15 carries and scored four touchdowns to tie a school-record as the third-ranked Bruins beat error-prone Southern California 34-17 on Saturday.The victory was UCLA's eighth straight over the Trojans, by far the longest in the 68-game crosstown series that began in 1929. It extended the Bruins' school-record winning streak to 20 games, longest in the country.
UCLA (10-0, 8-0 Pac-10) completes its season at No. 22 Miami on Dec. 5. A victory would give the Bruins an excellent shot at a berth in the Fiesta Bowl for their first national championship on Jan. 4.
UCLA, which clinched the Pac-10 title last weekend, is 10-0 for the second time in school history, joining the 1946 Bruins, who finished 10-1.
The Trojans (7-4, 5-3) hurt themselves by losing four fumbles in 221/2 minutes, severely damaging their momentum as well as directly leading to 13 UCLA points.
USC had seven turnovers to three for the Bruins.
UCLA spotted the Trojans a 3-0 lead on a 36-yard field goal by Adam Abrams before Foster got started.
First, the 6-foot-1, 205-pound tailback from nearby Santa Ana caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Cade McNown to cap a 77-yard drive and put the Bruins ahead for good.
Then Foster scored on a 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal to make it 14-3.
USC freshman Carson Palmer threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Antoine Harris early in the second period, two plays after Chris Claiborne's 66-yard interception return to the UCLA 4. But Foster scored on a 65-yard run two plays after that.
Chris Sailer kicked field goals of 38 and 26 yards later in the second quarter after UCLA recovered a pair of USC fumbles to make it 27-10.