The saga of what is becoming something of a lost season for Washington star wide receiver Jalen McMillan continues, as ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Saturday morning that McMillan will miss the No. 5-ranked Huskies' showdown with No. 20/24 USC in Los Angeles.

McMillan, who had 79 catches for 1,098 yards and 9 touchdowns last season, has been limited to two full games, a half against Michigan State and failed comeback attempts against Oregon and last week vs. Stanford in which he left the game early both times due to his lingering knee injury.

Huskies coach Kalen DeBoer reiterated earlier this week that the plan is to have McMillan make a full return at some point this season.

"It's all just game-by-game because he's really close. He's really close and it's day-to-day with him. ... Just trying to figure out how to get him over the hump," DeBoer said. "He wants to be out there as bad as anyone, and he's a big-time competitor so he knows how important he is to our football team."

DeBoer also wouldn't rule out McMillan returning to Washington next year for another season, but he didn't give any indication that McMillan is necessarily leaning that way at this point.

"I think back to a year ago, a huge credit to him, he was thinking about coming back well before he made the decision officially, publicly. A lot of it is he just has his individual goals and things he wants to accomplish," DeBoer said. "... It's been awesome to see his growth, but I also think about that next level and where he wants to get to. That's something I'm sure is in the back of his mind and he's working through. We'll continue to talk it through with him, but that's on his timeframe. But he certainly knows we're here for any information he needs us to gather so he can make the best decision possible."