Arizona had USC stopped on 4th-down and were in position to get the ball back down one possession in the fourth quarter, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called on Jerry Roberts which resulted in a first down deep in the Wildcats territory. USC took advantage of that penalty, finding the end zone two plays later on what was a back-breaking drive for the Wildcats putting them down two scores.

"I thought we had a third-and-8 stop," Jedd Fisch said on the penalty.

Jayden de Laura tried to bring Arizona back into the game, but was unable to do so as Arizona fell 45-37 to No. 10 USC to drop its third-straight game.

"I thought that our guys competed all the way through the game," Fisch said. "I thought it was one heck of a football game. I thought that there was not a time in the game where we didn't think we were going to win the game."

This was a back-and-forth game early as each of the first six drives resulted in scores. The difference was that the Trojans red zone trips resulted in touchdowns, while the Wildcats red zone trips resulted in field goals.

The eight points lost on those two red zone trips for the Wildcats settling for a field goal instead of a touchdown wound up being the difference in the game.

"A couple of possessions ended in field goals that I would have liked to end in touchdowns," Fisch said. "Obviously I'd like to see when we're first-and-goal on the two, second-and-goal on the one, not to have a five-yard loss on a run."

With LG Andrew Vorhees sidelined for an already struggling USC offensive line, Arizona had to put some pressure on USC QB Caleb Williams and they were for the most part unable to do so. Williams completed 31 of 45 passes for 411 yards and five touchdowns. Travis Dye led the USC rushing attack with 113 yards on 20 carries as the Trojans compiled 621 yards of total offense.

The biggest factor to a successful game for de Laura was avoiding any turnovers as USC entered Saturday tied for second in the country in interceptions. He was able to do so early, but a poor throw leading to a pick in the third quarter was followed by a 47-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Tahj Washington to put USC ahead 31-16.

de Laura bounced back quickly with his second touchdown pass of the night to Dorian Singer, which was followed by Arizona forcing USC to punt for the first time all game with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.

de Laura completed 26 of 43 passes on the night for 380 yards with three touchdowns. He also led the team with 54 rushing yards.

It was a career night for Singer as he hauled in seven receptions for 141 yards and all three of de Laura's touchdowns.

"There are some catches I don't even know what to say about them really," Fisch said.

The Wildcats were able to find the endzone again on a 10-yard run by Michael Wiley, but the two-point conversion was no good to keep USC in the lead 31-29.

Dye later found the endzone for USC with a two-yard rushing touchdown with just over six minutes left in the game to put the Trojans up 45-29. The Wildcats countered with a touchdown and two-point conversion a few minutes later, but a failed onside kick and one first down for USC on the next drive iced the game for them.

"I think we're continuing to grow with the players we have," Fisch said. "We're playing with a lot younger players than probably [Washington and USC] are. I think we started six true freshman tonight, so sometimes that is going to happen. Hats off to Washington, hats off to USC. Those guys have good teams, good offenses and we're coming for them."

The Wildcats are now 3-5 and likely need to win three of the last four games to be bowl eligible.

"We just got to keep going," Kyon Barrs said. "We can't get down on ourselves."

Arizona will head to Salt Lake City next Saturday for a game against Utah where they'll look to end a three-game losing skid.

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