Yes there are big bucks for National Merit kids from the institutions (see the following link: http://www.nationalmerit.org/annual_report.pdf).
There are also big bucks for kids who aren’t national merit. In fact, the vast majority of merit aid does NOT go to National Merit. They are a sliver of the population of high stats applicants. Northeastern and BU have PLENTY of money for high-stats non-merit kids. (Not sure about USC)
OP needn’t think that his/her chances for significant merit aid are somehow destroyed due to some incompetent proctor. (The proctor should have been reported immediately, of course, and it was most unfortunate that CB wasn’t made aware of this situation because it’s highly likely to be repeated). If stats are high and the school is a good fit the chances for merit aid are very high. USC is a great school but it’s not the only one out there - ESPECIALLY in the great state of CA 