1988 USC-UCLA game is one of the sweeter Trojan victories in the rivalry

If there’s a top-10 list of greatest #USC wins over #UCLA, the 1988 victory has to be included.

There is plenty to discuss regarding the 1988 game between UCLA and USC.

While it was not as significant as the 1967 game — no Trojan-Bruin game has yet matched that one in terms of overall in-season importance and historical resonance — it was still very big. The two schools had great teams led by elite quarterbacks.

USC had fallen on hard times earlier in the 1980s under previous coach Ted Tollner, but Larry Smith came from the University of Arizona to boost the Trojans in the late 1980s. Terry Donahue was at the height of his powers at UCLA. This game was a really big deal at the time.

Let’s look back on it, thanks to college football historian Chris Kreager, whose comments appear below: