USC QB Sam Huard changed his number to match the punter, then made a key trick play throw

Billy Heyen

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USC QB Sam Huard changed his number to match the punter, then made a key trick play throw image

USC pulled out all the stops to beat Northwestern.

When the game was still tied, before it turned one-sided, the Trojans faced a fourth down and pulled out one of the most unexpected tricks you'll see.

A player wearing the No. 80 trotted onto the field and aligned in punt formation. That's the jersey number of USC's punter.

Except it wasn't USC's punter.

It was Sam Huard, who a long time ago was a five-star quarterback recruit.

Huard had worn No. 7 until this week.

But this week, Lincoln Riley had Huard changed his number to 80. For this one moment.

Huard, a lefty, delivered a dart for a first down.

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College football teams often have players with duplicate numbers simply because of their roster size. The main rule is that you can't have two players with the same digits on the field at once.

USC didn't break that rule. It just created a whole new brand of sneakiness. Lincoln Riley and his staff went deep into their bag for this.

It's not really a trick that works twice, at least probably not. But on Friday night, it worked to perfection.

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Editorial Team