LOS ANGELES, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Southern California snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday night as Carson Palmer passed for 295 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-17 Pac-10 Conference victory over Arizona State.
The Trojans (2-4, 1-3 Pac-10) posted a season high in points and recorded their first win since a season-opening 21-10 victory over San Jose State.
USC started slowly and trailed, 3-0, after the first period.
But Palmer, who was 18 of 26, ignited the offense in the second period, when the Trojans scored 21 points to build a 21-10 halftime lead.
Palmer tossed touchdown strikes of 21 yards to Kori Dickerson and 20 yards to Charlie Landrigan before Sunny Byrd scored on a three-yard run to make it 21-3 with 47 seconds left.
Arizona State (3-2, 0-2) scored before the break, closing to 21-10 on Matt Cooper's four-yard strike to Skylar Fulton with 11 seconds to play.
But Palmer opened the second half with a four-yard touchdown pass to Alex Holmes.
The Sun Devils again tried to rally, closing to within 28-17 on Shaun McDonald's three-yard run with 3:50 left in the third.
The Trojans, who amassed 413 total yards, pulled away by scoring the game's final 20 points.
Cooper completed just nine of 17 passes for 117 yards and three interceptions for Arizona State.
USC evened the all-time series at nine wins apiece.
