This story was updated on Sept. 27, 2026 at 11:46 a.m.
In the moment, the targeting call that ended junior linebacker Desman Stephens II’s night against Oregon was fairly straightforward. A 15-yard penalty was issued, he was flagged for targeting and then ejected. But by the time the whistle blew on USC’s 41-27 loss, the conversation surrounding the hit had evolved.
It’s no longer a matter of whether or not the officiating crew got the call correct. Now, college football fans are wondering whether or not Stephens will receive further discipline for his actions.
The facts of the play itself aren’t in dispute. Stephens was flagged and ejected for a late hit that left sliding Ducks’ senior quarterback Dante Moore on the turf. Moore displayed a fencing response before remaining down for several minutes. He was eventually stabilized on a stretcher and transported to the Los Angeles General County Hospital for further evaluation. It was announced Sunday morning that Moore suffered a concussion during the hit, but did not sustain any further serious injuries.
What’s drawn additional scrutiny is what happened after the play. Stephens was seen appearing to celebrate the hit shortly after, with teammates coming over to embrace him while Moore was still being attended to by medical staff. Additionally, Stephens remained on the sidelines throughout the remainder of the contest, seen cheering on his teammates. That reaction has become as much a part of the conversation as the hit itself, and separates this from a usual targeting ejection.
The USC football program announced Sunday morning that Stephens has been suspended for one game as a result of his conduct and will not participate in the team’s upcoming game against Washington.
“I want to sincerely apologize for my actions during yesterday’s game,” Stephens said in a statement. “Seeing a player injured like that is incredibly serious, and my reaction in the moments afterward was completely inappropriate and inexcusable.”
Head coach Lincoln Riley condemned his linebacker’s actions in a statement of his own.
“Desman’s actions in last night’s game are unacceptable and are not reflective of USC Football nor of his personal character. He understands his mistake, accepts the consequences of his actions and will learn from this,” Riley said in a statement.
It’s worth noting that the penalty structure around targeting itself changed ahead of 2026. Previously, a targeting ejection called in the second half of a game resulted in an automatic suspension for the first half of the following game. Starting this season, on a one-year trial basis, that automatic suspension is no longer in place for a first offense.
The change was adopted after another controversial dispute involving University of Miami junior defender Xavier Lucas, who was forced to sit out the first half of last season’s National Championship game due to a targeting call. It now takes a second targeting foul in the same season to trigger the first-half suspension for the following game, while a third offense results in a full-game ban.
Stephens had no prior targeting penalties this season, so under the current rules, he would have remained eligible to suit up for the Trojans’ matchup against Washington at the Coliseum on Saturday. Any further consequence would have to stem from elsewhere.
That “elsewhere” is the Big Ten’s sportsmanship policy, a set of conference-level rules that remain separate from the NCAA’s governing body. The policy’s stated purpose is to ensure that all individuals within the conference “behave in a way that does not offend the elements of sportsmanship…”. Under it, the commissioner can impose “standard disciplinary action,” which is considered to be up to a two-game suspension and a $10,000 fine. Any further discipline would require approval from the conference’s Joint Group Executive Committee.
These are powers that have been exercised in previous instances. Former Michigan State cornerback Khary Crump was suspended eight games while his program was fined $100,000 after a postgame altercation involving the University of Michigan. That’s a significantly longer suspension than the standard protocol allows on its own, and serves as evidence that the conference has been willing to escalate punishment when the situation calls for it.
For now, there remains no indication that Stephens could be in for further disciplinary action, and the Big Ten Conference is yet to address the incident. Everything beyond the ejection itself remains speculative. Punishment is certainly possible under the conference’s own rule book, but has not been acted upon yet.
Whether it goes further will likely depend less on the hit, as officials have already ruled on it, and more on how the conference determines the severity of what ensued with Stephens after the whistle.
Edited by Sammie Vassallo & Adriana Brady