After back-to-back statement wins, UCLA football’s momentum on the field is beginning to ripple onto the recruiting trail. Interim head coach Tim Skipper continues to energize the program, shaking off the “one-hit wonder” narrative that followed the Bruins early this season.

After trouncing Michigan State 38-13, Skipper said his message to the team was simple — prove the critics wrong.

“That was the message starting on Sunday and we preach it every single day moving up,” Skipper told reporters after the win. “We just wanted to see where we really were. And we wanted to come out and play 60 minutes of football. And we did it today with training and not being one-hit wonders.”

The Bruins, who have clawed their way out of a dreadful 0-4 start, now have a new win streak and a big recruiting win to match.

Class of 2026 safety CJ Lavender has flipped his commitment from Washington to UCLA, he told Rivals reporter Hayes Fawcett. “Mama I’m home, Go Bruins!” Lavender said.

The 5-foot-11, 175-pound prospect from Victorville, California, had been committed to the Huskies since March before announcing his decision to join the Bruins. Lavender becomes one of the top early pledges for UCLA’s 2026 class, giving the team a strong local defender with elite speed and range in the secondary.

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The commitment marks another victory for Skipper’s staff, who have quietly been re-establishing recruiting connections across Southern California since the coaching change. Lavender’s flip also reflects the growing confidence among local recruits that UCLA’s football program is trending upward again — not just in the win column, but in energy and culture.

That cultural shift was on full display in recent weeks. Two games ago, UCLA shocked college football by upsetting seventh-ranked Penn State, a win that broke a 40-year NCAA record for the largest ranking gap overcome by an 0-4 team.

Led by sophomore quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s five-touchdown performance, the Bruins controlled every phase of that matchup and set the tone for their resurgence.

After that win, Skipper praised his players’ belief and unity: “We hung together. We stuck together. Everybody counted us out, but we knew we were just going to go to work.”

Now, with UCLA riding a two-game winning streak and landing blue-chip recruits, the program’s future looks far brighter than it did a month ago.