LOS ANGELES, Calif. – They didn’t play like an overwhelming underdog. They didn’t play like a team with 17 freshmen in the two deep. They didn’t blunder or stumble or fold against the nation’s No. 1 team.

What the young University of Idaho Vandals did was play with courage and tenacity and with the promise of good things to come as the youngsters who took the field against top-ranked Southern California Saturday night took the first step in coming of age.

The final score – 38-10 – was a reflection of a team that believes in itself and its leaders.

“We have some things to work on but we did some things well,” said redshirt freshman quarterback Nathan Enderle, whose collegiate debut included 16 of 34 for 155 yards. He wasn’t intercepted and he was sacked just once.

Give credit, too, to a collection of receivers who went the extra effort and showed an encouraging sure-handedness. Sophomore Max Komar led in total receptions with five and junior Eddie Williams netted 52 yards on four catches, while another junior – Lee Smith – had 51 yards on three.

Out of the backfield, redshirt freshman Deonte` Jackson showed plenty of mettle with 99 yards on 22 carries.

First-year coach Robb Akey echoed Enderle’s comments: he saw plenty to like but also plenty to fix.

“Our kids played hard throughout the course of the game,” Akey said. “There are things we can build this football team off of.”

Safeties Shiloh Keo and Chris Smith made their presence known with 10 tackles each. Keo put an exclamation point on his night with two interceptions and a fumble recovery to boot.

The Trojans scored twice in the first quarter then added a second-quarter TD before Tino Amancio connected on a 20-yard field goal as USC led 21-3 at the half.

USC scored two TDs and a field goal in the third quarter to go up 38-3 and it wasn’t until Jayson Bird put together back-to-back runs, capped by a one-yarder to score with 2:34 remaining in the game that lit the scoreboard again. Amancio’s PAT accounted for the final 38-10 score.

“We have a lot of growing still to do,” Akey said, “but we made some steps.”