Good Morning, Trojan Family! USC cross country wrapped up its season at the 2024 NCAA West Regional as the Trojans’ top three finishers at the regional posted season or career-best 6K times.

What else do we have for you in today's edition of The Three Torches? Check it out below!

🏈 Trojans take down the Cornhuskers at the Coliseum
⚽️ Women of Troy cruise to a First Round victory
⚔️ And much, much more!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Impressive Debut. Trojan quarterback Jayden Maiava passed for 259 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score in his first start for USC football, leading the Trojans to a 28-20 victory over Nebraska on Saturday. USC has never lost to Nebraska in these historic programs' infrequent meetings, with an all-time record of 5-0-1. Zachariah Branch, Kyron Hudson and Duce Robinson all hauled in touchdown passes while the Trojan defense held the Cornhuskers to 310 yards of total offense.

📚️ Read more about the USC win
🎥 Watch the full game highlights

🔼 Cruised and Controlled. The No. 1-seeded USC women's soccer team cruised past Sacramento State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon, taking down the Hornets 5-0 behind five different goal-scorers. The opening-round five-goal victory was the largest postseason margin of victory for USC since 2021. The Trojans will now host No. 8-seeded St. Louis on Friday, Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. at Great Park in Irvine, CA.

🎥 See the full match highlights
📝 Trojans sign 10th-ranked recruiting class

🔼 Call It A Comeback. The USC women's volleyball team took down No. 11 Oregon in five sets at the Galen Center on Sunday. Despite losing the first two sets of the match, the Women of Troy battled back to upset the Ducks on the team’s home court. It was the Trojans' fifth five-set win in seven full-length matches this fall and USC's second over a top-15 AVCA opponent.

#TrojanFamily, enter the Sprouts Super Fan Sweepstakes below for your chance to win exclusive prizes! Sprouts Farmers Market! Open seven days a week, visit your neighborhood Sprouts for good-for-you groceries and great prices on the freshest produce.

🔼 Speedy Fast. The No. 3 USC women's basketball team powered through a third straight contest at the Galen Center with an 81-50 win over Santa Clara. In her 38th game as a Trojan, sophomore JuJu Watkins wrote history with a pull-up jumper at the elbow to become the fastest USC player to reach 1,000 career points. The win improved the Women of Troy to 4-0 overall ahead of the team’s game against Notre Dame on Saturday.

🔼 Fight On. Sunday night against the Golden Bears saw USC men’s basketball fall in a close one, 71-66, at the Galen Center. After a back-and-forth offensive battle in the first half, both defenses locked in for the final 20 minutes as the Trojans held California to just 29 second-half points. Desmond Claude finished as the team’s leading scorer with 20 points on 50% shooting from behind the arc while Saint Thomas contributed another 15 points.

🔼 Mark Your Calendars. The USC Track & Field program has released its challenging schedule for the 2025 indoor and outdoor seasons. The Trojans are scheduled to compete in six indoor meets and 11 outdoor meets during the season, making 11 trips out of the state of California. 

📆 See the full 2025 USC Track & Field schedule

Today’s Top Tier Performance presented by ARCO goes to USC football’s Eddie Czaplicki. The Trojan punter was named a Ray Guy Award Semifinalist as he continues to be a game-changer for the team. USC is No. 1 in the nation in net punting (45.57 yards), and Czaplicki ranks No. 3 in the nation with a 48.5-yard punting average among punters with a minimum of 25 attempts. 

Today’s trivia question is brought to you by USC Credit Union, the Trojans’ credit union of choice. Now all residents of Los Angeles and Orange counties can join USC Credit Union and enjoy full banking services with better rates on deposits and loans, access to the largest shared banking network nationwide, and 24/7 mobile banking. Huddle up for better banking with USC Credit Union, the Official Credit Union of USC Athletics!

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Building A Legacy. USC’s JuJu Watkins showed the Trojan Family last year that she was one of the best freshmen in program history. This season, she has shown us that she could go down as one of the best to ever put on the jersey for the Women of Troy.

Our question today: which former Trojan did Watkins overtake in her latest USC record?

Got a guess? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the answer!

🦃 GOBBLE GOBBLE

Give thanks for Smart & Final! They’ve got everything you need for your Turkey Day spread from sides and desserts to ice, drinks and party supplies. 

This season, Abbott and the Big Ten are pitting school against school in the largest blood donation competition of our lifetime to fight the largest blood shortage in a generation.

Want USC to win? Then don't give up. Give blood. Every donation scores one point for your school on the leaderboard.

The winning school will receive $1 million to advance student or community health. Individual donors will be offered a free one-month subscription to B1G+ and will be entered to win a trip to the 2024 Discover® Big Ten Football Championship Game on December 7, 2024. Learn More and Give Blood Today.

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📅 THE WEEK AHEAD

*All times Pacific

Monday, November 18
No scheduled events

Tuesday, November 19
🎾 Women’s Tennis @ NCAA Individual Championships in Waco, TX

Wednesday, November 20
🎾 Women’s Tennis @ NCAA Individual Championships in Waco, TX
🏊️ Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving @ Texas Hall of Fame Swimming Invitational in Austin, TX
🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. San Jose State @ 7 p.m. in Los Angeles, CA | Tickets | Peacock | Listen

⚔️ Click here to view the full USC Trojan Athletics Calendar

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Cheryl Miller!

Watkins beat Cheryl Miller's record of the fastest USC women’s basketball player to score 1,000 points by 10 games.

⚔️ Have a great Monday, everyone!