LOS ANGELES – The Cal football team scored 15 unanswered points in the third quarter and its stout defense made it hold up in a 15-14 victory over USC on Saturday night.

With the victory, the Golden Bears became bowl eligible for the first time since 2015 and broke a 14-game losing streak to the Trojans. It was Cal's first victory over USC since its legendary triple-overtime 34-31 triumph at California Memorial Stadium in 2003 and first win at the Los Angeles Coliseum since 2000.

"One of our goals we set to start the season was to win a bowl game," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. "It's great that we put ourselves in this position. That needs to be part of who we are. The guys are excited about it, and they should be."

Linebacker Evan Weaver had a memorable performance in a season of memory-making, recording game-defining sacks on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter to help thwart USC's repeated comeback attempts. He also had a game-high 12 tackles.

Defensive back Traveon Beck had a pivotal interception that led to the game-winning touchdown, a 5-yard run by quarterback Chase Garbers with 6:13 to play in the third quarter.

The Bears sealed the victory by converting a 4^th-and-1 from the USC 33 with just under two minutes to play on a 14-yard run by Patrick Laird, who finished with 72 yards rushing.

"I want the guys to enjoy this," Wilcox said. "I appreciate what it means to be bowl-eligible. It's hard to win in this conference and it's hard to win at USC. It's a big deal for all the Cal Bears out there. We appreciate them as well."

Cal (6-4, 3-4 Pac-12) fell behind 14-0 at halftime but the momentum began to turn on the first possession of the third quarter when a bad snap sailed over the head of USC quarterback JT Daniels and into the end zone for a safety. Just over a minute later, Garbers found wide receiver Vic Wharton III down the middle of the field for a perfect strike and a 29-yard touchdown pass. The Bears had trimmed the deficit to 14-9 and the L.A. Coliseum crowd was stunned.

On USC's next possession, Cal defensive end Luc Bequette sacked Daniels to force a 2^nd-and-18 and Beck jumped a route on the next play for his third interception of the season. That set up the game-winning drive, with Garbers notching the first rushing touchdown of his career. Cal failed on the two-point conversion and led 15-14.

Weaver, who has emerged as one of the Pac-12's top linebackers this season, took it from there, anchoring a defensive effort that limited the Trojans to just 40 yards of offense in the second half after they gained 237 yards before halftime.

"We haven't always been the prettiest bunch but we battle," Wilcox said. "It just goes to show if you stay with it and keep grinding, good things will happen. "

Cal will return to California Memorial Stadium next Saturday to host Stanford in the 121^st Big Game.