LOS ANGELES---If you don't know, now you know. USC's wide receiver room is star-studded and forcing the nation to take notice. Senior wide out Makai Lemon and sophomore receiver Ja'Kobi Lane led the Trojans yet again in a 38-17 victory at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Friday night over Northwestern.
Lemon finished the night with five catches for 53 yards and one fourth quarter touchdown to seal the win. But the star of the night was the 6"4" second-year star out of Mesa, Arizona. Lane added four catches, 37 yards, and a ten-yard one-handed touchdown grab he snatched straight out of the night sky.
Lane had a viral moment early in the season when he had a similar one-handed touchdown catch against Georgia Southern on September 6. That catch came in a 59-20 rout against a non-conference opponent. Friday's catch came with 7:56 left in the third quarter to put the Trojans up 28-14, widening the gap in what up until that point was a back-and-forth contest against the Wildcats.
The kids call it "Mossing"--after NFL Hall-of-Famer Randy Moss. A receiver effectively "Mosses" someone when they make an acrobatic and athletic catch over a defender. It has a similar effect to a posterizing slam dunk in basketball.
It not only defeats the defender, it demoralizes them--leaving them with a feeling hopelessness against such otherworldly athleticism. Ja'Kobi Lane tends to have that effect on opposing defenses.
But for the Trojans, it's just another day at the office.
"It's regular at this point for us," said Trojans safety Kamari Ramsey of Lane's acrobatic plays. "I've been seeing it in practice for the last two years and in games. At this point it's normal. It's expected. He's going to keep making them."
"I just try to perform as best as I can for my teammates," Lane told reporters post game. "Whenever the ball is in the air I try to make the most out of the opportunity because they don't come often."
With the win, the Trojans improve to 7-2 amidst huge contests looming. Next week the Trojans host Iowa in a homecoming matchup, then a daunting challenge against the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium, and the ever-important crosstown matchup with arch-rival UCLA rounds out the regular season.
If Ja'Kobi Lane has another performance in one of those game like he did Friday night, they might have to start calling USC "Moss University".
I'm sure the Hall-of-Famer would be proud.