PASADENA - USC doesn't need any reminders that a single play can change the course of a game or a season.
The memory of Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard and wide receiver Mark Bradford connecting on fourth down - a play that ultimately took away USC's seat in the BCS National Championship Game - is reminder enough for a lifetime.
Tuesday afternoon, with Illinois driving inside USC's 10-yard line, about to make a once-secure Trojans lead diminish to a mere 4 points, USC linebacker Kaluka Maiava made the play that turned the game back around in his team's favor.
Maiava knocked the ball out of Illini wide receiver Jacob Willis' grasp at the 6-yard line, and fellow linebacker Brian Cushing landed on it in the end zone. Thanks to Maiava's forced fumble, a game that could have been 21-17 as little as 10 seconds later, turned into a 32-point rout, as No. 6 USC turned back the No. 13 Fighting Illini, 49-17, in front of 93,923 fans at the Rose Bowl.
"It would have been a motivational swing, so I'm glad we stopped them when we did," Maiava said, adding that watching former USC safety Troy Polamalu make that same play helped him force the fumble.
All-American safety Taylor Mays went a step further, saying it was the definitive play of the game.
"You saw what happened after that," he said. "Sometimes a game comes down to one play."
The sequence Mays was referring to was akin to a USC blitzkrieg that stomped out any flicker the underdog Illini (9-4) had left in their flame.
An eight-play, 80-yard drive following the turnover, capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback John David Booty to tight end Fred Davis made the game 28-10.
USC cornerback Cary Harris intercepted Illinois quarterback Juice Williams' pass on the first play of the ensuing drive, and 1:21 later, tailback Joe McKnight walked into the end zone to put USC (11-2) ahead 35-10.
Another Illinois turnover, this time a fumble forced by cornerback Terrell Thomas, and another USC touchdown - a 15-yard pass from Booty to wide receiver David Ausberry - and theoretically the game was over.
Eight minutes and 14 seconds. The sequence that USC coach Pete Carroll dreams about.
"We just got it right," he said.
USC's inability to create turnovers this season - a struggle that both baffled and frustrated Carroll - vanished in the third quarter. The team forced four turnovers in the game and turned all four into touchdowns.
"The other team's got the ball, the other team's doing good stuff, and all of a sudden you take it away," Carroll said about the impact turnovers have on a game.
On the other side of the coin, Illinois felt it had let opportunities slip away. The team gained 445 total yards, including two plays of 79 and 55 yards by star junior running back Rashard Mendenhall, but only had 17 points to show for the effort.
Safety Kevin Mitchell, who recorded 10 tackles, said his team's 28-21 upset of No. 1 Ohio State on Nov. 10 was largely due to his team's plus-3 turnover differential.
Tuesday, said Mitchell, "We didn't get it done."
"We knew we were going to have to play our best game, and obviously we didn't play our best game," Illinois coach Ron Zook said.
When it was all said and done, USC had racked up 633 yards of total offense - the most in the Rose Bowl Game's 94-year history. Booty threw three touchdowns, giving him seven career touchdown passes in the Rose Bowl - also a record.
McKnight rushed 10 times for 127 yards and a touchdown and caught six passes for 45 yards. Perhaps his most memorable play, however, was a dropped pass.
On the fourth play after Maiava's forced fumble, McKnight dropped a backward pass, which by rule becomes a live ball. The ball bounced directly back to him, and he capitalized on the good fortune by streaking 65 yards down the right sideline.
"I hit the 'B' button, and it bounced right to him," joked USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.
The story of the first half was USC's defense, as it reduced Illinois' vaunted rushing threat to little more than level green.
Williams and Mendenhall rushed for a combined 22 yards on 22 carries. During one nine-play stretch in the second quarter, the Trojans stopped the Illini for zero or negative yards eight times, highlighted by back-to-back sacks by linebacker Rey Maualuga.
Maualuga finished with four tackles, three sacks, one interception and one forced fumble, earning him defensive MVP honors. Booty was named offensive MVP for the second year in a row.
USC scored on its first possession of the game to take a 7-0 lead. Booty found tailback Chauncey Washington on an 8-yard pass to cap a nine-play, 72-yard drive.
On the seventh play of Illinois' ensuing possession, Williams' pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Cushing and intercepted by Maualuga, who returned it 18 yards to the Illinois 34.
The Trojans scored again on the next play, continuing their season-long trend of quickly capitalizing off big plays - but did so in unconventional fashion.
Booty threw a backward pass to reserve wide receiver/quarterback Garrett Green, who then set himself and tossed a cross-field pass to tailback Desmond Reed, who coasted into the end zone.
Washington capped off USC's first-half scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. A late Illinois field goal by kicker Jason Reda made the score 21-3 at the break.
The Trojans' dominating performance will only further elicit debate over the label of "best team in college football."
But if you ask McKnight, no such debate exists.
"You ask anybody on the team, and they think we can beat anybody," he said. "Once we get everybody [healthy], I just think we're the best team in America."
