It was back to the roster card for some Nebraska fans Saturday.

Even though Cody Glenn’s running style and build is tough to confuse with others, some surely needed to double check to be certain it was Glenn.

Indeed, that was good ol’ No. 34 doing what he does best, punishing defenders and rumbling his way into the end zone for the Huskers’ first touchdown late in the first quarter. Glenn got the only other NU rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

Glenn opened with a 5-yard catch for a first down on NU’s second drive. He had a pair of 3-yard gains before he smashed it in on his second try for his first score.

Glenn’s stat line wasn’t too great — eight carries for 20 yards, and four receptions for 46 yards. A 19-yard catch was his longest play.

Still, it was promising. Glenn has battled injuries and didn’t get a carry against Wake Forest. In the opener against Nevada, it was 29 yards for Glenn that hardly got noticed while Marlon Lucky rushed for 230.

“We saw some flashes from Cody, he did a lot of things well,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said.

Watson said Glenn being in better health and  conditioning was the biggest reason why he was a bigger part of the mix. Knowing it would take a physical runner to overcome the eight guys USC packed in the box helped Glenn’s chances, too.

After the game Glenn spent time in his home away from home — the training room. He never emerged for post game interviews. Watson did plenty of gushing, anyway.

“This day bodes well for the rest of the season for Cody,” Watson said. “He’s a lot closer to his old form.”

Class time

One of the more dramatic 2-yard penalties in recent Husker memory can be explained through Article 5 of the rulebook.

Here was the situation: Nebraska was lined up for a 21-yard field-goal attempt with about five minutes left in the opening quarter. But Trojan linebacker Rey Maualuga got in trouble for what officials call “disconcerting”, when he intentionally tried to draw a false start.

Tthe rule reads: “No player shall use words or signals that disconcert opponents when they are preparing to put the ball in play. No player may call defensive signals that simulate the sound or cadence of (or otherwise interfere with) offensive starting signals.”

Result: USC was making noise, got caught and was penalized half the distance to the goal, Glenn made it pay with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Injury report

Junior defensive tackle Ty Steinkuhler from Lincoln Southwest made it into the game the second time the NU defense took the field, and finished with three tackles.

You can add USC return man Vincent Joseph to those on the mend today. He went down midway through the second quarter, and was carted off following a 10-minute delay. He was taken to a local hospital with a bruised larynx.

No holding back

Last year against the Trojans, Nebraska closed its play book, passing only 17 times in a 28-10 loss. NU matched that output only three minutes into the second quarter on Keller’s completion to Frantz Hardy

At one point during that a second-quarter drive, NU threw it fives times in six plays that included tosses of 7 yards to Sean Hill, 14 to Dan Erickson and 19 to Nate Swift.

In the first quarter, Keller was 10-of-15 passing for 104 yards. In the second quarter he was 6-of-9 for 68 yards.

Quick hits

With an 8-yard catch in the first quarter, Terrence Nunn continued to close in on Johnny Rodgers atop the career receptions list. Nunn needs just 30 more catches to match Rodgers. It also marked Nunn’s 30th straight game to catch a pass, a streak which is tied for the fourth-longest in the nation. … Southern Cal leads the all-time series with NU 3-0-1, with two of those wins coming in Lincoln. … The loss dropped Nebraska to 24-3 in home night games.

Reach Brent C. Wagner at 473-7435 or bwagner@journalstar.com.