Michael Paulsen / Reuters

USC's Stafon Johnson, left, runs into the end zone for a touchdown against No. 14 Nebraska on Saturday night. Johnson rushed for a game-high 144 yards in the No. 1 Trojans' 49-31 win.

Keller was intercepted on Nebraska’s first two series of the second half, and the Trojans capitalized both times during the middle of a 35-point run that made it 42-10.

Booty found tight end Anthony McCoy alone in the back of the end zone for a 2-yard TD, and Chauncey Washington scored to make it 35-10 after Kyle Moore ran back an interception 24 yards to the Nebraska 1.

USC established the run immediately, with Havili going for 50 yards and Gable for 40 on the Trojans’ first two plays. Booty finished the drive with a 5-yard pass to Havili.

Cody Glenn’s 2-yard touchdown tied it 7-all for Nebraska, and Alex Henery’s 37-yard field goal put Nebraska up 10-7.

The Trojans started their next possession at the Huskers’ 45 after Malcolm Smith picked up kick returner Vincent Joseph’s fumble and returned it 31 yards to set up Havili’s TD run.

Joseph, who lost the ball when hit by Ricky Thenarse, was taken off the field on a stretcher after being tended to for more than 10 minutes. He was hospitalized with a bruised larynx.

Booty was 19-for-30 for 144 yards. Keller was 36-for-54 for 389 yards, but 169 yards and two TDs came in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach. Maurice Purify caught seven passes for 80 yards for the Huskers.

“It’s not garbage time to us,” Keller said of the fourth quarter. “We’re going to try to score every time every play. We kept plugging away. We weren’t going to go into the tank just because things weren’t going our way.”

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