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Pac-12: UCLA players explain recent success against USC

UCLA running back Paul Perkins leaps over a USC defender at the Rose Bowl in November.

UCLA running back Paul Perkins leaps over a USC defender at the Rose Bowl in November.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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USC has not defeated UCLA since 2011, a streak the Trojans hope to end in the regular-season finale on Nov. 28 at the Coliseum.

The Bruins defeated the Trojans, 38-20, at the Rose Bowl last season.

“The biggest thing the last three years was kind of taking care of their weapons because they always have a very strong defensive corps,” Bruins center Jake Brendel said Thursday during Pac-12 Conference media days.

Brendel, a senior, added that whether it was former USC All-America lineman Leonard Williams, “or any of their line or linebackers, I just feel like we did a very good job these past couple of years just dealing with their threats and making sure we’re being the aggressor and not the guy taking the hits.”

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Bruins linebacker Deon Hollins said UCLA defensive coaches “don’t come in with a regular game plan,” against USC.

The Bruins, he added, have, “a very good grasp of their offense and a very good grasp of their tendencies. Some of the things they like to do, sometimes we know … before they even knew it.”

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