USC is in the midst of one of the most absurd stretches of any team in college football -- four losses in the last five games after holding fourth quarter leads in each, a replay review negating a game-winning fourth-and-goal stand at Minnesota, a missed field goal in overtime vs. Penn State, a blocked field goal swinging the game at Maryland last week.

Four losses by an average of 3.5 points turning one legitimate College Football Playoff hopes into a lost season just past the halfway point..

And then there's this stat that ESPN dug up ...

While fans are ready for changes -- any changes -- coach Lincoln Riley said the Trojans (3-4, 1-4 Big Ten) are staying the course as they host Rutgers (4-3, 1-3) on Friday night in the Coliseum.

"I think you got to sit there and evaluate. Is there one thing that you look at and say, all right, we're not doing this well enough, this is not progressing, that we have to address it and make direct changes? And then like you said, you've got to look at it and what are the things that we're doing well or we are making progress on? I mean, the obvious thing is everybody's going to say, oh, well you got to finish games better. Well, no shit, right? But No. 1 is why haven't we, and we've had a myriad of different issues," Riley said this week.

"I mean, I think the reality is we've been in a lot of really close games. We've had some opportunities to separate in several of these games and we haven't -- need to get better at that -- and then we've had some opportunities to close them. We've had some really unfortunate breaks, we'll call 'em, in several of these, but we haven't been good enough to overcome those and that's what we're building to become obviously. But I don't see one central issue that this position group or this player or this scheme or this coach, they're not doing this well and that's why we haven't closed out these games. It's just we've sprung some leaks in different places and we got to keep coaching and keep progressing and then anything that we see that is not functioning at a high level or headed that way, that we're aggressively addressing it and we'll do anything we have to do to continue to plug these leaks and get better."

It may be too late to keep this season afloat, but there is still the bigger picture and trajectory of the program at stake, and what the Trojans do the rest of the way does indeed matter in that regard.

So they'll look to bounce back against a struggling Rutgers team that itself has lost three straight (and not in such competitive/heartbreaking fashion).

"I have every faith in the guys in the locker room, have every faith in the bond between the guys on our team, everybody in our coaching staff," quarterback Miller Moss said.

The unique challenge this week is returning from a cross-country trip and having a short week to prepare for a Friday night game.

"Yeah, it was an interesting scheduling. Honestly, it's like the perfect week to have a short week, though," Riley said. "I mean, really, the guys were able to sleep on the flight home the other night. We all worked the entire flight home and got a good jump. And I think it's a good one just mentally to kind of be able to just dive right in."

First, let's dive deeper into the matchup with Rutgers ...

Who | Rutgers (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten) at USC (3-4, 1-4)

When | 8 p.m. PT Friday

Where | LA Memorial Coliseum

TV | FOX with Jason Benetti, Brock Huard and Allison Williams

Radio | ESPN LA 710AM Radio with Pete Arbogast, Shaun Cody, Cody Kessler, Su’a Cravens, Jordan Moore and Jason Schwartz

Betting line | USC -14 (over/under 56.5 points)

Series history | First ever meeting between USC and Rutgers. This is the first time the Trojans have ever had back-to-back games against an opponent they'd never played before.

USC injury report | The Trojans are missing four defensive starters in the secondary in CBs Jaylin Smith and Jacobe Covington, nickel Greedy Vance Jr. and safety Kamari Ramsey. Freshman CB Marcelles Williams is also out. Left guard Emmanuel Pregnon is listed as questionable.

The Scarlet Knights are in their fifth season of their second run under head coach Greg Schiano, who previously coached the program from 2001-11. Overall, he is 91-98 in 16 seasons with the school, but he's delivered just one winning record (7-6 last season) in his return stint, excluding the team's 4-3 mark so far this year.

After starting 4-0 with wins over FCS-level Howard, Akron, Virginia Tech and Washington, Rutgers has lost three straight -- 14-7 at Nebraska, 42-7 at home to Wisconsin and 35-32 at home to UCLA.

Rutgers is led by one of the best running backs in the Big Ten in senior Kyle Monangai, who has rushed for 845 yards (5.5 yards per carry) and 10 touchdowns so far this season after totaling 1,262 rushing yards and 8 TDs last season. He's rushed for at least 72 yards in every game with highs of 208 vs. Akron, 165 vs. Howard and 132. vs. Washington.

At quarterback, senior Athan Kaliakmanis transferred in after starting for Minnesota last year. This season, he has passed for 1,337 yards, 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions while rushing for 126 yards and a score. He's thrown just 2 touchdowns with 4 interceptions over the last five games, including no passing TDs the last two contests.

Senior wide receiver Dymere Miller leads the team with 26 catches for 349 yards and a touchdown, while sophomore Ian Strong (16-267-1) complements the passing attack. Freshman KJ Duff is coming off a breakout game with 3 catches for 82 yards vs. UCLA. Junior tight end Kenny Fletcher (20-137-2) was a big piece of the offense as well, but he is out for the season with injury.

Veteran left tackle Hollin Pierce has 44 career starts and has given up only 6 QB pressures and 0 sacks this season. Senior center Gus Zilinskas has 23 career starts and has also allowed only 6 pressures (1 sack) so far, and junior right guard Kwabena Asamoah (8 pressures, 1 sack) is also a returning starter. Senior right tackle Tyler Needham (13 pressures, 1 sack) has been more vulnerable, while junior left guard Taj White (8 pressures, 2 sacks) has made just 3 starts.

Rutgers has been gashed defensively in three of the last four games, allowing Washington to pass for 314 yards and rush for 207, giving up a season-worst 309 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns to Wisconsin (plus 240 passing yards) and then a season-worst 383 passing yards and 4 touchdowns to UCLA (plus 95 rushing yards).

The Scarlet Knights are led by linebacker Dariel Djabome, who has 66 tackles (tied for 14th nationally), a sack and 2 forced fumbles.

They have just 4 interceptions this season -- including 2 from safety Shaquan Loyal, who also has a team-high 5 pass breakups. Eric Rogers and Robert Longerbeam are both returning starters at cornerback and each have 1 interception.

Safeties Desmond Igbinosun (43 tackles), Flip Dixon and Loyal all have 20-plus career starts.

Defensive end Kyonte Hamilton is the most experienced of the Rutgers defensive linemen, with 25 career starts, and has a team-high 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks.

Kicker Jai Patel is just 4 of 8 on field goals (22 of 22 on extra points) and just 1 of 3 on attempts of 40 yards or more.

Punter Jakob Anderson is averaging 43.1 yards per punt with 11 of his 30 attempts landing inside the 20-yard line.

The Scarlet Knights do not have a kick or punt return longer than 20 yards this season but have also been stout on their kick coverage units (long return of 34 yards allowed).