Desman Stephens II hit Oregon quarterback Dante Moore while Moore was sliding in the second quarter Saturday, and officials threw him out for targeting. Moore was carted off, taken by ambulance to a hospital and later entered concussion protocol; the broadcast caught Stephens smiling and celebrating with teammates on the sideline while Moore was still down, which drew criticism all weekend. Because it was his first targeting disqualification of the year, the ejection alone does not keep him out against Washington, but a Big Ten sportsmanship-policy suspension remained possible, not confirmed, as of Sunday.
That is the news fans should be watching for between now and Saturday, and it lands on the one unit that could least afford it. USC lost to Oregon 41-27 in Week 4.
The defense that could not finish
Oregon out-gained USC 504-446 and scored 41 points after Moore's concussion. The Ducks converted both of their fourth-down tries. Riley called a missed-field-goal-and-punt-return stretch "the really defining sequence of the game".
Gary Patterson was hired in January to run an evolved multiple 4-2-5 and was supposed to be the reason this defense took a step. Five games in, the Fresno State game looks like the exception.
The clearest tell came from the sideline. With just over seven minutes left, three timeouts in his pocket and the ball on his own 49, Riley went for it on fourth-and-7 rather than punt; Oregon took the short field and burned the rest of the clock on an eight-play drive. Coaches punt when they believe their defense will get the ball back. Riley did not punt.
Now subtract USC's leading tackler, and you understand why the conference office's decision matters more than a normal availability note.
What the offense can and cannot cover
USC scored 27 and moved the ball. Tobias Raymond took over at center after Kilian O'Connor's season-ending injury and has held the job; nobody has graded his snaps individually, but quarterback Jayden Maiava went down only twice against Oregon's rush, both sacks on the opening drive.
The receiving room has quietly solved itself. Trent Mosley, the freshman who was USC's best target and punt returner, hurt his right knee against Louisiana; CBS Sports reported he is expected to miss multiple games. Corey Simms was out too. Kayden Dixon-Wyatt caught seven balls for 114 yards and a touchdown anyway.
What the offense did not do was stay on the field. It converted 2 of 11 on third down. That is the number to watch Saturday, because a defense that cannot get off the field plus an offense that cannot stay on it is exactly how 41-27 happens.
Saturday
No. 18 USC hosts Washington at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. The model makes USC a 67% favorite at home, which is a comfortable number and also the kind of number Riley's teams have found ways to complicate. CBS Sports pegs him at 5-15 against top-25 opponents at USC and 2-6 against ranked Big Ten teams over the last two seasons. Washington has also won the last three meetings, including a 52-42 romp at the Coliseum in 2023.
The stakes are real without being season-defining. A win puts USC's playoff odds near 15%; a loss drops them to about 4.6%.
USC still does not know whether Stephens will be available for any of it. A defense that could not get Oregon off the field may have to face Washington without its leading tackler, and the Trojans are waiting on the conference office to tell them which.
Full numbers are in the interactive guide, and the methodology explains how the projections are built.