Chip Kelly and the Bruins beat crosstown rival USC for the second time in three years on Saturday.

UCLA forced three turnovers without giving the ball back a single time. It held USC to just 3 rushing yards. The Bruins sacked Caleb Williams four times and, aside from one second-quarter touchdown pass to Brenden Rice, held an explosive offense firmly in check.

It was a statement game of sorts for the Bruins, who went into the matchup with all kinds of speculation swirling around their head coach. A report earlier this week claimed UCLA intends to fire Kelly at the end of the season.

Kelly said after the 38-20 win over the Trojans that athletic director Martin Jarmond approached him earlier this week to tell him the report was inaccurate and inappropriate.

“Josh came over the other day and said, ‘Hey, there’s a report about this.’ Martin told me it was inaccurate and inappropriate, so I said, ‘Hey, let’s go back to work,'” Kelly said. “I don’t pay attention to that stuff, I don’t read that stuff, I’ve never seen that stuff.

“I talk about being the most prepared and the least distracted, then why would I let something distract me? If that’s the case, I’m a fool because I’m not doing what I tell our players to do. It didn’t bother this team one bit, and you can see by the performance today.”

The report, from Bruin Report Online’s Tracy Pierson, stated that Kelly had lost support of program boosters and had lost the locker room.

UCLA certainly didn’t play like a dispirited team against the Trojans.

“I never talked to the team about it, I never talked to our coaches about it,” Kelly said. “We’re just fortunate. We’re all blessed that we get to play this sport. And every day we get to coach it, I’m the happiest man in the world.”

UCLA (7-4, 4-4 Pac-12) closes out the year next Saturday against Cal at home.