Trojans are looking for the finishing touch

USC once again struggled late in the fourth quarter and failed to put away an opponent, angering and exasperating USC fans.

“Somewhere in here, we’ve got to develop a killer instinct — and we were close [Saturday] night,” USC Coach Steve Sarkisian said. “We were closer than we were in the other ballgames.”

USC had the ball with seven minutes left and drove from its 11-yard line to Utah’s 28. But the Trojans failed to convert on third and fourth down.

Utah took over and drove for the winning touchdown.

“We have to continue to try to develop that,” Sarkisian said of the killer instinct. “And that is totally on me, that’s totally on coaching, developing the mind-set of a football team to make that happen.”

USC is 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the Pac-12 Conference.

“Somewhere in all of this there’s a silver lining,” he said, adding, “I don’t feel like this conference race is over.”

Thrilling return

Adoree’ Jackson’s 100-yard kickoff return was the latest example of the freshman’s game-breaking skills.

Jackson said that as he caught the ball eight or nine yards deep in the end zone, he thought JuJu Smith would tell him to take a knee.

Instead, Smith signaled for him to return the kick.

“I stayed for a minute and when he said come out, I was like, ‘All right, I’ve got to listen to him,’ and I just ran out with it,” Jackson said.

Quick hits

Sarkisian said he was not surprised that Utah passed rather than ran on its game-winning one-yard touchdown with eight seconds left. “We were totally prepared for it,” he said. “We knew exactly what play was coming. It’s unfortunate we didn’t stop it.”