Caleb Williams passed for a career-high 470 yards, Austin Jones rushed for a season-high 120 yards, and the seventh-ranked USC Trojans clinched a spot in the Pac-12 Championship Game with a 48-45 victory over the 16th-ranked UCLA Bruins on Saturday night. After the game, USC head coach Lincoln Riley met with reporters to break down the game. Here’s everything he said, with video of the press conference below.

Opening statement

“Great game. Iconic type of game. Lived up to the billing. Both teams are really good, a lot of back and forth. We talked about that with the guys last night and we tried to prepare our team for what a rivalry game looks and feels like. There’s gonna be tons of emotion in it, there’s gonna be a lot of momentum swings, and you’ve got to be able to ride the wave and you’ve got to be able to stay in there.

“Too many examples to list of that, but we found ways. Lots of highlights on all sides. But, I think, really just the different sides of the ball battling back when we weren’t at our best. There’s a lot of examples — not scoring on the first couple drives offensively when we were moving it pretty good, Denis coming back and making some of those kicks, defensively gave up some plays but got the four turnovers. Those were the difference in the game.

“Pretty cool to be sitting here, getting the 10th win, getting the chance to go to the championship game. It’s very meaningful. And this is one of the toughest things to do in football, is beat a good football team on Senior Night at their place. With all that was riding on it on top of that, for us to find a way to get it done, that was a clutch performance by our team, a big-time win.”

On Korey Foreman’s interception

“It was really cool for him. You just never know when it’s going to be your moment, and he was ready. Shane made sure he had the call, and then he dropped back and made a great play on the ball. It wasn’t an easy play. Excited for Korey, he’s worked hard behind the scenes. A great example of ‘don’t worry about outside expectations or what other people think.’ It doesn’t matter, you just keep working and improving, and things happen. He’s a tough kid on top of that.”

On making adjustments after a slow offensive start

“Getting the turnovers was big. I think the little surge at the end of the half there was really important. That was a real important stretch. We got turnovers defensively. Offensively, we did a much better job of finishing drives after the first quarter. That was the difference in the game.”

On RB Austin Jones

“He was huge, but exactly what we expected him to be. Exactly what he has been. There’s not one person in the locker room surprised about the way he plays. Another great example of the unselfishness of this team. He comes in, they’re mixing time in the beginning, we start to ride Travis a little bit more. He could have got down, he could have quit practicing hard, he could have got selfish. Not for one second. There was no doubt in that locker room that he was ready.”

On QB Caleb Williams and managing Heisman hype

“Having coached some guys like that in the past, guys that win individual awards, you don’t focus on that. Just try to win each week for your team. Those are the guys that do it. He’s been one of the best players in the country this year. He’s really played well. All those things, it’s got to stay about the ball, and that’s the most important thing. I know that’s the most important thing to him and all of us. Maybe those things come to fruition, that’s great, but those are byproducts. That’s not why we’re here tonight, that’s not why he’s here.”

On signs of growth

“Being down 14-0 and then not even flinching, not even thinking about flinching. You build these games up in your head, and the problem becomes when you try to decide what’s going to happen before it happens. You get so excited to play, you kind of dream ‘oh, we’re going to play this unbelievable game.’ You never think ‘oh, were going to be down 14-0.’ I actually told the guys last night, I was referencing a game last year [at Oklahoma] where we were down 28-7 at half and I told the guys we are capable of being down 28-7. We are capable of making some great plays, and mistakes too. The team we’re playing is a good team. You can’t write the script first, you have to just be ready to respond. For us to respond like that, over and over. The other thing I’d say is how many guys stepped up who haven’t had a statistically huge year tonight. You go down the list, we keep talking about the closeness and culture and togetherness of this team, and I think it was on full display tonight.”

On special teams

“It was part of the outcome. It always is. Made a few, obviously. Again that field goal at the end of the half was so clutch. We had a plan to sky kick a couple of them. I think the last one we did, we just didn’t hit a good ball. We hit it about 10-15 yards shorter than we wanted to. We did a good job covering the kicks other than that. They’re dangerous, they’ve done a really nice a job in [kick-off returns] all year, so we wanted to give them a few different looks.”

On if he talked to the team about keeping emotions measured during the week

“We do, but not in any response. Whether they said anything or not, that’s how we handle it. This team, wherever we’ve gone, we’ve gone together. So we wanted to keep it that way.”

On the state of college football on the West Coast

“College football on the West Coast and here in L.A. is alive and well. The people that were in that stadium tonight, whether you were a UCLA fan or USC fan, they won’t forget nights like that. What an unbelievable experience. That’s how it’s got to be every week. I’m not just talking about at our place or anything like that, if you’re in this area and didn’t come to this game, boy you missed out. Don’t miss out on too many more.”