For the first time in its debut run through the Big Ten, USC faces a familiar opponent in former Pac-12 foe Washington as the Trojans are on the road in Seattle on Saturday.

USC (4-4, 2-4 Big Ten) visits Washington (4-4, 3-4) while looking to build on its 42-20 win over Rutgers last week.

The Huskies, meanwhile, are coming off consecutive lopsided losses to Iowa (40-16) and Indiana (31-17).

While this is a much different Huskies team than the one that made it all the way to the national championship game last year, losing to Michigan, Washington is now led by former Arizona coach Jedd Fisch, providing some further familiarity to the matchup.

"He's done a really good job. He did a great job at Arizona. They brought in some really quality players, had a really good football team last year, obviously, had a tremendous season. That was a big win for us here," USC coach Lincoln Riley said of the Trojans' 43-41 triple-overtime win over Fisch's Wildcats last season. "And he's done a really nice job at Washington -- he has. They've obviously had a lot of roster turnover. We kind of know how that feels, but he's done a really good job. They brought in some really good players.

"Several of the guys that were holdovers from last year's team are really, really good players. There's still certainly some familiar faces there, and the guys that are back obviously had a lot of great experience. He had several guys come with him from Arizona that have been impact players for them. So yeah, I've gotten to know him a little bit personally too. He's a great guy, he's done a tremendous job the stops that he's been, and no shock to see those guys playing well."

Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. PT at Husky Stadium and the game will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

Let's take a closer look at the matchup.

Who | USC (4-4, 2-4 Big Ten) at Washington (4-4, 3-4)

Where | Husky Stadium, Seattle

When | 4:30 p.m. PT Saturday

TV | Big Ten Network with Jeff Levering, Jake Butt and Brooke Fletcher

Radio | ESPN LA 710AM Radio with Pete Arbogast, Shaun Cody, Cody Kessler, Su’a Cravens, Jordan Moore and Jason Schwartz (includes 2-hour post-game show)

Betting line | USC -2.5 (over/under set at 55.5)

Series history | USC is 51-31-4 all-time vs. Washington (not counting one vacated win). The teams last met last season with USC losing 52-42. The last meeting in Seattle was back in 2019 -- a 28-14 Washington win.

Injury report | USC played last week without four starting defensive backs in safety Kamari Ramsey, nickel Greedy Vance and cornerbacks Jaylin Smith and Jacobe Covington, while also losing defensive tackle Nate Clifton to injury early in the game. It's unclear if any of those players will be back Saturday, as coach Lincoln Riley was vague about their status this week.

"I don’t believe any of them are out long-term. I don’t know that there’s any of them that you would say today are full-go, no-doubt are going to play," Riley said on Tuesday. "But I do think they’re all progressing in a very positive way. Hopeful to get, obviously we’ll take any number we can. I don’t think, I don’t know that we’ll get all of them back, but obviously when you have that many at one position, getting anybody would be very, very helpful."

Washington was in the national championship game last season, losing to Michigan, but that seems like so long ago. Since then, coach Kalen DeBoer left for Alabama, all but two starters departed and Jedd Fisch came in from Arizona to hit the reset button for the Huskies.

As for the roster turnover since the national championship game, Washington returned two regular starters in LB Alphonzo Tuputala and CB Elijah Jackson, lost 41 letterwinners and added 59 new players to the roster. On the depth chart for the season-opener in 2023, 44 players were listed on offense and defense. Just 11 of those 44 are still on the Husky roster (and just two of those 11 are on offense).

Fisch is 21-26 overall as a head coach and pulled off an impressive turnaround at Arizona, going from 1-11 in his first season to 10-3 last season. So far, he's 4-4 in his debut season at Washington.

The Huskies have wins over Weber State (35-3), Eastern Michigan (30-9), Northwestern (24-5) and Michigan (27-17) with losses to Washington State (24-19), at Rutgers (21-18), at Iowa (40-16) and at Indiana (31-17).

Washington is 4-0 at home but has lost its last two games overall -- the losses to the Hawkeyes and Hoosiers.

The Huskies have won 18 consecutive home games

Fisch brought with him from Arizona his running back Jonah Coleman, who has been one of the best in the Big Ten this season while rushing for 785 yards and 5 touchdowns on 6.7 yards per carry. He has four 100-yard rushing games and has rushed for at least 67 yards in every game. He ranks No. 2 in FBS with 30 rushing plays of 10 yards or longer and sixth with 37 scrimmage plays of 10-plus yards

At quarterback, Washington brought in Mississippi State transfer Will Rogers, who has 14,337 career passing yards, 107 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. This season, he has passed for 2,022 yards, 13 TDs and 4 INTs, but those 4 picks have come in the last three games (including 2 last week vs. Indiana). Among current FBS players, Rogers ranks No. 1 in career attempts (2,114) and completions (1,472), No. 2 in passing yards, TDs and completion percentage (.697) and is just the 14th player in FBS history to pass for 14,000-plus yards

The Huskies have two standout receivers in third-year sophomore Denzel Boston (44 catches for 583 yards and 9 TDs -- tops in the Big Ten) and sixth-year senior Giles Jackson (49-553-2).

Washington's offensive tackles have been vulnerable this season as sophomore right tackle Drew Azzopardi has given up 20 pressures and 2 sacks and has a 41.8 isolated pass-blocking grade from PFF, while redshirt freshman Soane Faasolo and JUCP transfer Maximus McCree have rotated at left tackle, combining to allow 26 pressures and 5 sacks with respective PFF pass-blocking grades of 28.7 and 47.8. The Huskies have given up 7 sacks over the last two games -- both losses.

Washington's defense has performed well under first-time coordinator Stephen Belichick -- yes, the son of coaching legend Bill Belichick.

Statistically, the Huskies have the top pass defense in the country, allowing just 123.1 yards per game through the air and the No. 6 overall defense in giving up 272 yards per game.

That said, here are the offenses the Huskies have faced ... Weber State (FCS), Eastern Michigan (74th overall, 54th passing), Washington State (23rd overall, 26th passing), Northwestern (132nd overall, 125th passing), Rutgers (73rd overall, T-85th passing), Michigan (124th overall, 129th passing), Iowa (101st overall, 128th passing) and Indiana (6th overall, 21st passing).

So they've played two good FBS offenses all season and then some of the worst offensive and specifically passing teams in the country. They also played Indiana with its backup quarterback last week (still losing 31-17).

The Huskies have particularly struggled against the run of late. In the last four games, Washington has allowed 184 rushing yards to Rutgers, 174 to Michigan, 220 to Iowa and 188 to Indiana.

The defense is led by senior LBs Carson Bruener (55 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 interception) and Alphonzo Tuputala (45 tackles, 2.5 sacks), senior CB Thaddeus Dixon (24 tackles, 7 pass breakups and 1 INT), redshirt freshman NK Jordan Shaw (21 tackles, 2 TFL, 5 PBU) and sophomore DE Isaiah Ward (5 TFL, 3 sacks)

Kicker Grady Gross was a big part of Washington's run to the national championship game last season, but he is just 11 of 18 on field goals this season.

Punter Jack McCallister averages 45.9 yards per punt with 8 of his 23 attempts landing inside the 20-yard line and 6 punts of more than 50 yards.

Denzel Boston averages 6.7 yards per punt return with a long of 25, and Keith Reynolds averages 21.3 yards per kickoff return with a long of 29 yards.