Matt Barkley struggled in part due to an injury-plagued receiving corps, but his short pass to Damian Williams who took it 75 yards for a touchdown would be enough for the offense to pull out with a win. Not to mention, it's great material for a highlight reel. Joe McKnight and Allen Bradford each had quietly productive games, rushing for 78 and 67 yards respectively.

It looked as if the defense returned back to its normal form, holding the Sun Devils to 9 points. The Trojans recorded 3 interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown by Will Harris. Seeing more interceptions by the defense is a good sign considering they've only had a total of 3 interceptions coming into this game.

Jeff Fellenzer, a professor at USC's Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, sat down with Matt Barkley for a very candid Q & A session. Here is a link to that interview and two excerpts

Fellenzer: Have you experienced any special moments when your older teammates really showed faith in you as a leader?

Barkley: At Ohio State, right before we got the ball back for that fourth-quarter drive, [linebacker] Chris Galippo and [safety] Taylor Mays each came up to me at different times, saying, 'We're gonna get the ball back for you. We believe in you.' That was confirmation for me right there, getting all the guys in the mind-set that it doesn't matter who we are or what age we are, hey, we can do this. But I'll remember those two guys coming up and saying that stuff. That was pretty cool.

Fellenzer: What stands out among the things you've learned so far from Pete Carroll?

Barkley: I love everything he says and I try to apply everything, and even try to echo him in interviews . . . just because they're the right things to say. [Laugh] We have three rules: 'Be early' -- it can apply to everything, to class, to outside settings, but especially for football. It shows respect. 'Don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses,' from Coach [John] Wooden. These all can apply off the field, too. 'Protect the team.' It's simple, but it goes a long way. Also 'protect the ball' is a huge part of the philosophy. It's made me change for the better, just being mindful that if we have control of the ball, obviously they don't . . . and they can't score. That's been a huge thing. Competing is another central theme of the program. I've always been a competitor, but just to hear that reinforced every day, and to have the defense hearing it, too, so they're competing right back . . . it's making me a better player. Being even-keeled, not underestimating your opponents, treating them the same every week. I love all that stuff he says.

There is no goal that USC's Matt Barkley won't pursue [LAT]

"I didn't mean to rip the dude's helmet off," Mays said.

A Pacific 10 Conference official has been suspended for not calling a facemask penalty on Mays. The league did not identify the official.

The McKnight-Bradford duo is working well for the Trojans.

The Trojan defense kept the Notre Dame offense in check. The referees assisted the Irish all the way to the end of the game, but even that wasn't enough. Statistically speaking the Irish offense, led by ostrich Jimmy Clausen, is one of the better ones in college football. The Trojan defense is lights out!

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I hope everyone really enjoyed their bye week, but now it's time to focus.  Let's get a few particulars out of the way.

Current Weather Forecast for Saturday in beautiful South Bend, Indiana: 48 degrees and partly cloudy (expect this to change about a dozen times before kickoff)

Line: Southern Cal by somewhere between 8 and 11, depending on where you're looking.  I'm going to guess that ticks its way up to around thirteen or so by the end of the week.

Anticipation Level: 16 out of 10

As I wrote last week, this is the game that frames the last five games and the rest of the season.  Is Notre Dame a great team that was just finding its footing and got screw jobbed at Michigan, or is it an average, mediocre team that can't stand up against the elites of college football?  A close loss to Southern Cal isn't the end of the world, but a blowout loss would leave the taste in most Irish fans' mouth that this season is just like every other one after 2005.  A win?  A win and everything is roses and candy and puppies and sunshine for a week (until the inevitable letdown "HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!" loss to BC the next Saturday).  I want that win and that feeling like everything is right in the world.  I want to see everything about the team humbled - from the sunglasses-wearing band to Traveler to Carroll to Barkley. 

Can the Irish pull it off?  We'll get into this in more detail as the week goes on, but over the bye week I watched some of Southern Cal's games on the incredibly useful ESPN360.  A few quick observations from going through a couple of halves without too meticulous of scrutiny:

* Matt Barkley, as he comes across in interviews, is a cool customer.  He's not asked to do a whole lot in that offense yet, but the arm and confidence are there to be a great quarterback for a long time.  In the Ohio State game he was in an incredibly hostile environment but had the benefit of being in a very low scoring game, meaning the Trojans could always rely on their running game, even late in the fourth quarter.  If the Irish can get a lead and the crowd gets cooking..... maybe.  We'll see.  He looks a little like Dick Casablancas from Veronica Mars, so take from that what you will.

* Damian Williams is a beast, in the Mike Williams/Dwayne Jarrett mode of just eating defensive backs alive.  Packing the box and attempting to cover him on an island could result in a very, very long day.  He also is a huge threat on punt returns.

* Taylor Mays is some sort of human-velociraptor hybrid.  Against Cal he picked off a (horrible) Kevin Riley pass in the endzone on the first possession of the game and cut down Jahvid Best on a third and short pitch late in the second quarter.  He's everywhere you do not want him to be.

* Joe McKnight is very fast.  If the Irish don't improve at tackling very quickly - that's what bye weeks are for! - he's going to have a Reggie-in-2005 type day because he has the breakaway speed and shiftiness to go yard every time.  He's not the best back for a consistent pounding attack at this point in his career, which was where Stafon Johnson came in as a great complement to the rushing attack.  Johnson will miss this game as he continues to recover from that very scary weight lifting accident, so expect to mostly see McKnight and Allen Bradford.

* The Irish are going to have a difficult time just lining up and running at the Trojan front.  Look at this listing of tackles for loss, it is absurd.  I was avoiding watching the Washington game because I wasn't sure how much it was worth taking notes on a game where Barkley and Mays didn't play, but I think I'm going to have to to see how the Trojan defense handled the best quarterback on their schedule up until this point.  Kevin Riley played like he had a serious head injury for four quarters and there were tomes written about the poor offensive gameplan of Ohio State, but Locker put a nice little game together.  The Huskies only scored 16 points, but Locker was solid (21-of-35, 237 yards, no TD's, no picks).

* This is not a particularly disciplined Trojan team on offense.  They average eight penalties for seventy yards a game, they are 113th in the country in third down percentage, minus on turnover margin for the year and only average in the red zone.  If Notre Dame were to go into a sort of shell defense and make Southern Cal dink and dunk their way down the field and not score on big plays, I feel like there will be potential for some drive-halting mistakes by the freshman QB.  Possibly not, but there's potential.

* The Southern Cal offensive line is very good, and was blowing Ohio State off the ball by the fourth quarter.  It'll be imperative for the Irish offense to give their defense some time to rest and for the Irish defense to tackle, because if they don't, Barkley can just hang back and hand the ball off for an easy win.

* Despite the lop-sided nature of the final scores the last couple of seasons, the Irish defense has played pretty well.  In 2008 the Trojans really struggled to score until the Notre Dame defense was just too gassed due to offensive failure after offensive failure.  Even in 2007, the season of infinite sorrow, it was only a 7-0 game partway into the second quarter.  The defense has been fine, it's the offense that needs to avenge itself if Notre Dame wants to pull off the home upset.

Defense highlights:

History repeats itself for the Golden Bears; they enter the season with lots of hype, only to fold like a bad hand in poker. Time for them to enter hibernation!

Cal's Heisman hopeful tailback, Jahvid Bust, was held to a season-low 47 rushing yards against USC. Meanwhile Joe McKnight looked the best out there, rushing for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Cal's quarterback, Kevin Riley, really outdid himself this time. Just when you thought his passing completion rate of 38.7% against Oregon could not get any worse, he sunk to a new low against the Trojans with a completion rate of 37.5%.

The offense got off to a strong start, but they were inconsistent and fumbled more than they should have, but on the bright side, coaches opened up the playbook and allowed Matt Barkley to complete some deep passes. However this offense, and the receiving game in particular, needs to play better. Trojan fans eagerly await the return of the fastest receiver, Ronald Johnson, who suffered a shoulder injury in the scrimmage game in August.

This defense is impressive. They almost held the Cougars to a shutout if it were not for Aaron Corp's fumble late in the game. Defensive back Marshall Jones and defensive tackle Hebron Fangupo each suffered season ending injuries in this game. Injuries are part of the game, and this is why it never hurts to have depth like USC does. Pete Carroll and coaching staff "stockpile" talent, and given the current waves of injuries, this is when the depth is tested.

Today's game against Washington St. is the perfect medicine to try and get things back on track. But lets be honest here...The spread is 45+ plus points, WSU is still rebuilding even though they had an inspiring win last weekend. USC will not cover the spread but they don't have to. SC just needs to have a solid game tonight. They need to protect Matt Barkley, they need to protect the ball and they need to get the bad taste of last weeks loss out of their mouth. We have been down this road before...there is no difference between last week, OSU in 2008 and 'furd in 2007.

SC just needs to get back on their horse and ride...

So, lets start with some news about the defense specifically Taylor Mays. It was announced earlier this week that Mays would start this weekend.

[a] day after announcing that Barkley would start Saturday night against Washington State despite a sore shoulder, Coach Pete Carroll on Thursday made a similar call regarding Mays, who is recovering from a knee sprain.

"He's ready to go," Carroll said.

Mays, though, said it was "50-50," and that it might be a game-time decision.

"I think I'm going to play unless something goes wrong," he said.

Just another day with the 12th-ranked Trojans, who are trying to rebound from last week's 16-13 upset loss at Washington and the free-fall in the polls that followed.

Neither Barkley nor Mays played in the defeat at Seattle because of injuries suffered in USC's Sept. 12 victory at Ohio State.

Mays, wearing a brace on his right knee, participated in most drills Thursday after sitting out early in the week.

"I don't feel rusty at all," he said. "I actually feel good, feel refreshed. Like I had a bye week."

Of course there were some questioning this move because they thought Mays should sit out another week to get ready for Cal because they expect an easy win against WSU.

Again, I am not going to question the moves of the coaching staff...they have far more information and insight that any of us do. Mays at 50-50 is better than no Mays at all. Not having him on the field last week, especially on that last UW drive was telling as some of the new faces in the secondary who have moved up the depth chart are still feeling their way through.

The linebackers will see Jordan Campbell get his first start replacing the injured Malcom Smith...

Campbell, a third-year sophomore, said this week that he worked diligently to harness his desire to freelance on the field, a flaw that prevented coaches from trusting him to carry out assignments.

"When I first came in to USC, I'd see the ball and just want to go fly and make the play," he said. "You have to realize, at the end of the day, that you have to fall back sometimes.

"I learned to slow down."

Shane Horton will back up Campbell at the weakside spot.

Luthur Brown did not practice because of back soreness, and his status for Saturday's game is questionable, Carroll said.

Uh...Brown needs to sit for a bit after celebrating last weekend in the face of defeat. Spicer too. I just wanted to throw that in there.

Nick Perry who has been an absolute monster out there will start tonight. Perry is tied for the lead in sacks in the Pac-10 and is 7th nationally. That is impressive for a redshirt freshman!

I really can't complain about the defense. They have some injury issues in the secondary but the front seven has really played lights out. They got us into position to win in Columbus and they were asked to keep us in the game time and again in Seattle. Sure they were not able to stop that lst drive but you expect them to make every play.

- - -

As for the offense...

If Barkley is able to get the ball down the field look for a couple of new targets for him to throw to.

One is freshman wide receiver De'Von Flournoy...

De’Von Flournoy flashed big-time playmaking ability during training camp. Play-caller Jeremy Bates liked what he saw of Flournoy this week.

"He’s had a real good week," Bates said. "He had great one-on-ones (Tuesday), and he’s out there with the ones running some routes. We’re looking forward to getting him in."

Coach Pete Carroll recognizes Flournoy’s talent but still isn’t sure he knows the offense well enough to be a major contributor at this point. It isn’t for lack of trying, on both ends.

"We are really forcing it down his throat almost with everything that we can throw at him to get him ready and try to find a role that he can fit," Carroll said. "He’s a playmaker. We can already sense that in the work that he has given us. He’s just a long way behind, and he’s unsure of himself. You can’t play fast if you are unsure of yourself.

"The coaches are feeling better about him, and he has been studying like crazy. He stays out here late and all that stuff.

USC needs a deep speed threat with RoJo out. Ausberry is not the answer and it looks like that Travon Patterson is never going to see the field at this point in any significant capacity.

Another weapon we might see tonight is Cameron Jordan...

junior wide receiver Jordan Cameron (Newbury Park High) met with USC coach Pete Carroll this week to discuss his shrinking role with the Trojans. Cameron contended for the No. 3 wide receiver spot in training camp but did not even make the travel squad for last week's game at Washington.

"He's been quiet," Carroll said. "He's working hard and all. I said something in our staff meeting about him. We haven't dug very deep in our ranks."

Cameron said he was pleased with the meeting.

"(Carroll) said I'm close to getting on the field but I need to show more, make the right reads and block the right people," Cameron said.

"That's what he said and I have to believe him. He said every receiver should be talking to him because our passing game is not balanced with our running game."

We'll see...if Barkley can't throw it down field with any significant results it won't matter. Heck, I could suit up and be just a effective.

- - -

Gary Klein points out seven issues surrounding USC right now...

The Trojans, as they always do after stumbling against previously unranked conference opponents, are expected to rebound tonight with a victory over Washington State, a 45 1/2 -point underdog at the Coliseum.

Beyond that, the only thing that can be said with certainty about the Trojans is this: They have issues.

At least seven of them.

They might not show up against the undermanned Cougars, but they must be resolved before the Trojans head off to play October road games at California, Notre Dame and Oregon -- before this turns into possibly the worst season under Pete Carroll since the Trojans' 6-6 finish in 2001.

Not that USC's players, accustomed to 11- and 12-win seasons, can fathom that scenario.

Winning will cure some of these as it will build confidence..I am not really going to belabor the points that Klein points out.

The more important thing I need to see is how SC comes out after last weekends loss. Unfortunately they have been down this road before...

Any way we will see how it goes!

Here are some links...

Brad Budde: USC Offense Needs Identity –
Interesting take...

USC freshman transitions with playing career cut short - Rivals.com
Great article on Frankie!!

The Skinny: Efficiency and Improved Passing Game Key vs. Cougars - TrojanWire

USC Trojans can't afford loses as long as Pac-10 prejudice exists - George Schroeder - SI.com
I may look at this a little more later

I will have more later and a game thread up this evening...