/ STAFF WRITER
SANTA CLARA – Twenty minutes from the Rose Bowl, USC couldn’t make its dream a reality.
The Trojans survived a mostly dreadful first half in Saturday’s Pac-12 Conference championship game against Stanford, then took a third-quarter lead with some inspired play on both sides of the ball but lost, 41-22, in front of 58,476 at Levi’s Stadium.
With less than five minutes remaining in the first half, USC trailed 13-0 and had a total of 9 yards of offense. The Trojans found their offensive rhythm in the third quarter, scored two touchdowns and took a 16-13 on a 27-yard run by Ronald Jones II.