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Here's our quick reaction to USC's 24-14 win over Washington.

It was over when: USC defensive back Josh Shaw grabbed a tipped interception near midfield from Huskies QB Keith Price on fourth-and-8 with 4:20 left in the fourth quarter and the Trojans up 10. The Huskies dominated the second half, but their first-half deficit was just too much.

Gameball goes to: The USC defense. The Trojans were supposed to be all about the offense -- QB Matt Barkley and his scintillating corps of receivers. That hasn't proven true, but the defense has been better than expected. It forced four Washington turnovers, and that proved the difference in the game. It held the Huskies to 299 yards.

Stat of the game: Barkley was 10-of-20 for 167 yards with a touchdown. If you had told me during the preseason that would be his stat line for any game, I would have laughed at the delusion.

Unsung hero of the game: While the Trojans passing game was struggling, Penn State transfer Silas Redd rushed for 155 yards on 26 carries. Of course, much of that came on a 57-yard run on USC's first possession, which only led to a field goal.

What USC learned: It learned that the Trojans' passing game is oddly mediocre and it doesn't seem to be getting better. I have no idea why it's not better.

What Washington learned: It learned that it weathered a brutal first-half schedule with a 3-3 mark. That's not too bad, as it went 1-3 in games in which it was a significant underdog. Bowl hopes are firmly alive.

What it means: It means USC inches forward. It won't move up much in the national rankings with this performance, but it won't move down. With dates against Oregon and Notre Dame ahead, the Trojans still have a chance to get into the national title picture if it becomes a beauty contest with one-loss teams.

SEATTLE -- There were plenty of positives for Washington to hold onto heading into Saturday’s matchup with No. 11 USC. The Huskies had won 10 of 11 at home and two of the three matchups against the Trojans under coach Steve Sarkisian.

Even after falling behind early, there was still reason to remain optimistic Saturday, since the Huskies trailed 10-0 in 2009 before coming back to beat USC, 16-13.

If Washington wants a repeat performance, the Huskies have work to do. They head into the half trailing 24-7 at CenturyLink Field.

Stat of the half: USC holds a sizable advantage in total offense heading into the half, outgaining the Huskies by 146 yards. Washington finished the first two quarters with 87 yards and, outside of their one scoring drive, really struggled to move the ball.

Player of the half: USC running back Silas Redd ran for 116 yards on 14 carries, adding an 11-yard touchdown to stake the Trojans to an early 10-0 lead after a Dion Bailey interception started USC in Washington territory on the Huskies' first drive.

What’s working for USC: Pretty much everything at this point. The Trojans have rushed for 140 yards, Matt Barkley is 7 for 11 for 101 yards and a pretty touchdown pass to Xavier Grimble in the second quarter, the defense has held Washington to 87 yards, and Anthony Brown blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown. It's hard to find much wrong with what has gone on from a USC perspective, especially in a hostile environment.

What’s not working for USC: Barkley did throw an interception to Marcus Peters that eventually turned into Washington's only points of the half, as Keith Price hit Kasen Williams on a touchdown pass to bring the Huskies within 10-7. But besides that, it's been a good first half for the Cardinal and Gold.

Here’s the 10th post in our “film study” series.

Every other day, almost, we’re watching one of the games USC played last season and putting up a set of pertinent-to-this-year notes, going of course in chronological order from the Minnesota season opener to the UCLA season finale. At the end, we’ll have one last post with our overall takeaways from the re-watching. By then, it’ll be the week of this year’s opener.

We’ve already done USC’s 19-17 win over Minnesota, 23-14 win over Utah, 38-17 win over Syracuse, 44-23 loss to Arizona State, 48-41 win over Arizona, 30-9 win over Cal, 31-17 win over Notre Dame and 56-48 triple-overtime loss to Stanford and 42-17 win over Colorado. Here, now, are our five notes -- four big things and a bunch of little ones -- from the Trojans' 40-17 win over Washington on Nov. 12, 2011.

The fake punt

It was 7-3 Trojans in the second quarter and USC was about to to give the ball back to Washington after another penalty- and incompletion-filled drive.

Then Kyle Negrete entered the game to "punt" and took off running down the field. He ended up gaining 35 yards -- and several fans with the big hit he doled out at the end of it. In retrospect, it was clearly the biggest play of the game, with the Huskies really never figuring into the outcome after Negrete's fake punt led to a USC touchdown.

Seven minutes later, it was 23-3, Trojans.

It was a heck of a time to call the only fake punt of the season, too. If it failed, Washington would have had the ball just 30 or 40 yards away from a control-taking touchdown.

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USC quarterback Matt Barkley was named to the Manning Award watch list on Monday alongside fellow Pac-12 quarterback Keith Price of Washington.

The two were the conference representatives for the 25-man Manning list, with the award going to the best quarterback in the country after the bowl games. It is the only quarterback award that includes the candidates’ bowl performances in its balloting.

Barkley has appeared on the Manning preseason list the past two seasons.

The senior signal-caller completed over 69 percent of his passes for 3,528 yards and 39 touchdowns in 2011. He also set a host of school records, including the single-game marks for touchdown passes, passing yards and completions.

He has been nominated for several other awards this preseason.

Over the next two weeks, we’ll be releasing our list of the top 10 moments of the 2011 USC football season -- one moment per day, each weekday. Our lists of the top 10 players of the season and the five biggest questions facing the Trojans in 2012 will follow.

We have judged our moments on three primary criteria: (1) overall impact on the season and the future, (2) impact on the game in which it occurred and (3) entertainment value. No. 10 was Robert Woods' 4-yard touchdown grab in the first half against Oregon. Here, then, is moment No. 9: Curtis McNeal's 79-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of the Washington game.

In their 10th game of the 2011 season, the Trojans led Washington 23-3 at halftime at the Coliseum, and, when Marqise Lee opened the third quarter with an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, it seemed like USC had the game sealed surprisingly early.

Then Washington receiver Kevin Smith took the ensuing kick back almost to midfield, caught a 53-yard pass from Keith Price on the next play and the Huskies scored one play later and looked like they had another shot at the contest.

That was when McNeal got the ball, ran to left tackle Matt Kalil's right and was off to the races for a 79-yard touchdown run, USC's second-longest play from scrimmage this season. He wasn't touched by a Washington defender until the end of his run, when Huskies safety Will Shamburger tried to grab hold of him inside the 20-yard line.

And that was what made the play so great. Greeted by Shamburger's impending presence, McNeal calmly stayed the course and continued running down the sideline. When the defensive back -- six or seven inches taller and considerably heavier -- dove for him, McNeal stuck out his right arm and brushed him right off.

Washington didn't score again until the final seconds of the game, and USC recorded an impressive 23-point victory.

McNeal, a junior, emerged into a legitimate threat at running back over the course of the 2011 season. This run was the final step of that emergence -- his biggest, best run of the year. There were other big gainers, such as the 61-yarder against Stanford and the 73-yarder in the season finale, that netted him praise from coach Lane Kiffin and applause from Trojans fans.

But this one was big, if subtle. Like he was so good he didn't need to try anything drastic to get the defender off of him. Like it wasn't even a possibility he would run out of gas after 70 or so yards. Like he wasn't completing his development from academically ineligible to the No. 1 running back at USC in just a little over a year.

It was as smooth as can be for a run of that length.

Check back Tuesday for our eighth-best moment of the 2011 season, which happened in the Notre Dame game last month.

1. Back-to-back-to-back. Until this year, it had been a full decade since USC had lost three straight games to a single opponent. Stanford reset the clock on that last month at the Coliseum with its triple-overtime victory over the Trojans, but USC runs the risk of doing that once again this weekend against Washington. The last two times the Trojans and Huskies have met, Washington has pulled out last-minute victories on the foot of kicker Erik Folk. USC's favored by nearly two touchdowns this time around, but this isn't the typical game with that margin. The Huskies were just as easily supposed to lose each of the last two games, but Jake Locker buoyed them into victories each time.

2. Price and Polk. On the topic of Locker, Keith Price is no Locker, but Washington's Price and Chris Polk are up there this year among all the QB-RB tandems the Trojans have faced, probably behind only Stanford's Andrew Luck and Stepfan Taylor. Polk, a junior who once committed to USC in high school, has gotten at least 100 yards from scrimmage in every game this season and has already surpassed 1,000 yards. Price started the season, his first as the starter, really hot but has since cooled down. He's thrown a combined five picks in his last two games, so the Trojans clearly have an opportunity to force turnovers against him.

3. A healthy defense. Those turnovers depend on the playmakers of this defense, and a couple of those playmakers were absent against Colorado last week. Strongside linebacker Dion Bailey, the biggest pleasant surprise of the unit this year, wasn't cleared to play because of a concussion but is now slated to move back into the starting lineup for Washington. And safety T.J. McDonald missed the first half of that game because of a Pac-12 suspension -- he'll be playing right away against the Huskies, and he'll be motivated after USC coach Lane Kiffin told reporters that McDonald played tentatively in the second half last week.

4. The USC RBs. Curtis McNeal has been handling himself just fine as USC's primary running back the last two weeks, except for the injuries that seem to come up every time he picks up more than 10 or so carries in a game. The good thing for the Trojans is that Marc Tyler is healthy again and will be available against Washington. Against Notre Dame, McNeal and Tyler made for a combination the Irish had no consistent answer for, so it'll be interesting to see if the Huskies have anything ND didn't. George Farmer is also expected to play for the first time since the Notre Dame game, so the Trojans could use him for a trick play or a mix-'em-up call.

5. Sarkisian-Kiffin. The two coaches, USC's Kiffin and Washington's Steve Sarkisian, managed to create some entertainment for Saturday's game with their back-and-forth barbs this week. There's something fun about their interactions, almost as if you can see the Pete Carroll influence in the both of them. Both have the opportunity to get one step closer to making their 2011 seasons unabated successes with wins Saturday. In Sarkisian's case, a win against the Trojans means his team is probably going to finish with nine wins, considering the Huskies' last two opponents. In Kiffin's case, a win against Washington means his team is going to enter into next week's matchup with Oregon a top-15 team, probably right around the same rank as the Ducks if they lose to Stanford on Saturday. A lot's on the line for both men, and there will surely be attention paid to their postgame interactions at the Coliseum.

USC cornerback Nickell Robey said this week that Washington quarterback Keith Price "surprises" him with his unique style of play in the pocket and the way he tries to buy time for his receivers.

See Robey's full-length scouting report on the sophomore Price from this week of practice:

USC dropped just one spot in the Associated Press poll following Saturday's 56-48 loss to No. 4 Stanford in triple overtime, from No. 20 to 21, a sign of just how much national viewers respected the Trojans' performance in a losing effort.

We wrote pre-game that the game would be a crossroads for Lane Kiffin and USC. Win, and the Trojans would go one way, skying up to inarguable success this season. Lose, and they'd trend significantly downward and be in danger of losing some fan support once again.

Well, we were wrong. They took the in-between route.

Kiffin's Trojans put up such a fight against Andrew Luck and the Cardinal that the outcome doesn't necessarily take them in a given direction from here. They'll face Colorado in five days, and they obviously need to win that comfortably to keep up the momentum, but they'll likely be ranked higher after beating the Buffaloes than they were entering the Stanford game, which is saying something.

What did USC prove in Saturday's four-hour tour de force on the Coliseum field?

For one, the Trojans' defense has improved from last season and the start of last year. Luck's numbers were nice and Stanford ended up with 186 yards rushing, but the Cardinal did not dominate the game on the offensive side like they've dominated every other game they played this season. Stepfan Taylor and the other backs only finished with a lot of yards because they ran the ball so many times -- Stanford got less than four yards per rush on average.

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The weeks are counting down until fall camp begins for the USC football team the first week of August. During each of the in-between weeks, we've been offering up an early first look at the 12 scheduled opponents for the 2011 season, in chronological order. We began with Minnesota, Utah and Syracuse, continued the next three weeks with Arizona State, Arizona, and Cal and added Notre Dame, Stanford and Colorado recently. We now present Washington, who the Trojans will play at home on Saturday, Nov. 12:

History: Three Pac-12 teams have beaten USC the last two times they matched up: Stanford, Oregon and Washington.

The Huskies memorably upset the Trojans in September 2009 when then-freshman Matt Barkley missed the game because of a shoulder bruise and Aaron Corp struggled in his place. Then, last October, Washington beat USC on a last-second field goal -- again -- from kicker Erik Folk, taking advantage of a miss by USC's Joe Houston on the previous possession.

Both games were decided on the final play, and both were the Trojans' first losses of their respective seasons. If this game ends up USC's first loss in 2011, the Trojans will have had a super-successful year, but that's beside the point.

Historically, USC leads the series 49-28-4. The last time Washington beat the Trojans three times straight was in 1990-1992. On the topic of streaks, USC has twice defeated the Huskies at least seven times straight, in1965-1974 and 2002-2008. Washington's best run was five consecutive victories in the 1930s.

Offense: Washington was carried by quarterback Jake Locker in last year's game at the Coliseum. Coach (and offensive playcaller) Steve Sarkisian probably won't have that same benefit this season when he turns to true sophomore Keith Price as his starter.

Price, a Bellflower St. John Bosco High product, did well in limited opportunities behind Locker last season but has little starting experience. In eight games in 2010, he threw 37 total passes and completed 19 of them for two touchdowns and no interceptions. Most of those numbers came in his lone start at Oregon in November.

His receiving options are plentiful: senior Jermaine Kearse, a 1,000-yard guy in 2010, is in the conversation as best Pac-12 receiver with Arizona's Juron Criner and USC's Robert Woods. Devin Aguilar, another senior receiver, is a steady talent. Incoming freshman Austin Seferian-Jenkins is gigantic -- 6 feet 6, 250 pounds -- and might start at tight end right away.

But the Huskies' offense will be based around junior running back Chris Polk, a Redlands East Valley High alum who was second in the conference in rushing last season behind Oregon's LaMichael James. He averaged 20 carries a game last year and could get even more in 2011.

The offensive line is middle of the road for the conference, with converted defensive tackle Senio Kelemete the most interesting player as a potential NFL left tackle. Junior center Drew Schaefer started 11 games in 2010.

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