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LAS VEGAS — The defenses at No. 13 LSU and No. 23 Southern California were so subpar last season that both teams made major changes. That included hiring new coordinators. Their early work seems to have paid off. That is especially the case for USC. Both defenses bore little resemblance to the units that last season ranked 108th for LSU and 119th for USC. Each side gave its respective offense a chance to win before the Trojans finally did in beating the Tigers 27-20 on a Woody Marks touchdown run with 8 seconds left.
