UCLA Bruins' DeShaun Foster Takes Jab At Crosstown Rivals USC Trojans

While in a media availability session during the final day of the Big Ten Football Media Days, Foster stood next to UCLA's logo purposefully covered USC's logo as a slight to the Bruins' crosstown longtime rivals.

Despite being one of the most revered players in UCLA program history, Foster managed to go 1-3 vs. the Trojans during his playing days from 1998-2001. During his freshman season in 1998, Foster's Bruins took down USC at the Rose Bowl 34-17. That would be the only success UCLA would have against the Trojans during Foster's playing days.

USC's offense, led by quarterback Carson Palmer, would be the driving force behind their wins over UCLA. The Trojans managed to take down the Bruins 17-7 in 1999, 38-35 in 2000, and 27-0 in 2001. In fact, UCLA's next win over USC wouldn't come for nearly a decade later, taking down the Men of Troy in 2006 by a score of 13-9.

The Trojans had their wins in 2004 and 2005 vacated after the NCAA's investigation into the Reggie Bush scandal. That included USC's famous 66-19 win in 2005 at the Los Angeles Coliseum, which would only be outdone by their 50-0 win in 2011.

Foster began his UCLA coaching career 2-1 vs. the Trojans with wins in 2013 and 2014, before the Trojans picked up a win in 2015. The Bruins benefitted from the presence of quarterback Brett Hundley, who was one of the most successful quarterbacks in recent memory and owned a 3-0 record vs. USC as a starter.

After a brief stint at Texas Tech in 2016, Foster came back to UCLA in 2017. Since then, the Trojans own a 5-3 record vs. Foster and the Bruins.

As an alumni and longtime coach of the Bruins, it makes sense to see Foster taking a jab at USC in attempt to keep the rivalry fresh. Having a coach who not only has coached in the game plenty of times, but played in it as well gives UCLA a unique perspective into what the rivalry means.

USC coach Lincoln Riley owns a 2-1 record vs. UCLA in three seasons at the helm of the Trojans. And the way USC's roster is shaping up, the Trojans are looking to win back-to-back games vs. UCLA for the first time since 2019-20. UCLA will be much improved with the addition of quarterback Nico Iamaleava, but the Trojans will be prepared for their highly-anticipated Crosstown Rivalry game vs. the Bruins in 2025.