Clay Helton's tenure as the coach at USC couldn't have started much worse. After being named the permanent head coach last year, the Trojans proceeded to lose in the Pac-12 championship game and again in the Holiday Bowl. Then, they started this year with one of the worst losses in school history -- a 52-6 drubbing by Alabama -- and followed that up with two more losses in the next three games.

At 1-3, it was widely-speculated that Helton might be one-and-done. That talk now seems outright foolish.

USC hasn't lost since, and is now preparing for its first appearance in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual since the 2008 season.

Here is a look at how the 2016 season went:

Team MVP on offense: QB Sam Darnold. Let your imagination go wild. How would USC have fared against Stanford if Darnold was the starting quarterback? How much better would he have played against Utah if it wasn't his first start? In the alternative universe where that took place, USC might be a playoff team and Darnold probably would have been in New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. In nine starts, the redshirt freshman completed 213 of 313 passes (68.1 percent) for 2,633 yards with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His QBR (87.0) ranked No. 2 in the country -- between Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield, a Heisman finalist, and Louisville's Lamar Jackson, the Heisman winner -- and coach Clay Helton has to be at least mildly concerned that Darnold could turn pro after next year.

Team MVP on defense: CB Adoree' Jackson. The Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year is the obvious choice, although his candidacy for the conference honor was no doubt inflated by his return ability. Jackson is electric with the ball in his hands, but improved significantly at corner this year with a much lighter load on offense than he carried last year. Honorable mention to Utah transfer Stevie Tu'ikolovatu, who made an immediate impact in the middle of the defensive line.

Season highlight: When USC went to Seattle in early November to play No. 4 Washington, the Trojans' five-game winning streak could be attributed to a soft stretch in the schedule. Sure, they had been dominant, but their three losses in the first four games justified any skepticism about how much they had improved. A 26-13 win left no doubt. It was a thorough enough victory to convince most neutral observers that if the teams were to play again, USC would be the clear favorite.

Season lowlight: 52-6. The loss to Alabama won't soon be forgotten.

Biggest reason for optimism heading into 2016: Darnold is just a freshman and leading rusher Ronald Jones II is just a sophomore. Both should be among the best in the country at their respective positions next season, and there will be proven players and just about every position on the roster.

Biggest area of need heading into 2017: Offensive tackle. Left tackle Chad Wheeler and right tackle Zach Banner are both out of eligibility, which leaves two important spots to fill. Chuma Edoga has played a significant amount of snaps this year, but Wheeler and Banner's departures leave the most noticeable void.

Most memorable moment from 2016 season: Jackson scored in three different ways against Notre Dame -- punt return, kick return, reception -- in one of the most impressive performances of the season in college football. It was the type of game that might have a negative effect on Penn State coach James Franklin's ability to sleep over the next two weeks.