College Football AP Top 25, Week 3: Winners and losers

COLUMBUS, OH - SEPTEMBER 09: Chanse Sylvie #28 celebrates with Steven Parker #10 and Parnell Motley #11 of the Oklahoma Sooners during the second half against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Ohio Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

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LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 09: Steven Mitchell Jr. #4 of the USC Trojans celebrates after scoring a fourth quarter touchdown against the Stanford Cardinal at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 9, 2017, in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Winner: USC Trojans (No. 6 up to No. 4)

What happens when you count the USC Trojans out after a questionable victory in Week 1? They just go out and beat down Pac-12 rival Stanford 42-24. It was an impressive win for a team that was arguably the least convincing in Week 1. No one was buying the Trojans’ stock after taking Western Michigan down to the wire.

In case you weren’t around for last week’s contest, the Trojans needed three-plus quarters to actually put away the Broncos of Western Michigan. The two teams were tied at 31 apiece in the fourth. Did USC overlook Western Michigan? Probably, but the Trojans shouldn’t have — Western Michigan finished 13-1 last season.

One thing is for certain, though, the Trojans didn’t overlook Stanford. Although they let Bryce Love go off on them, the Trojans took care of business in Los Angeles and moved back up in the polls after dropping out of the top-five last week.

Sam Darnold also got back into the Heisman conversation — as if he was ever truly out of it — as he passed for 316 yards and four touchdowns. The ground game also picked up over 300 rushing yards.

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