LOS ANGELES — This was the one USC was missing. T he one that kept getting away.

The win to write home about. To pound chest pads about. The one that USC coach Lincoln Riley could put his John Hancock on – a signature win in the Big Ten era, finally, officially.

USC, unranked at game time, dominated a fellow blue blood, beating Michigan for the first time since the 2007 Rose Bowl , 31-13, before a full and mighty Coliseum crowd on a fine Saturday night in L.A.

So crucial was this victory to the Trojans’ hopes and dreams four seasons into Riley’s oft-turbulent USC tenure, even he had to admit it: “Our players, our future players, L.A., just everyone liked to see that,” he said. “And it was an important step. I’ll definitely concede that.”

It’s not just that they got the victory, it

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