As USC tries again for its first Big Ten road win, it faces a Minnesota team with its back against the wall and its season in jeopardy of slipping away.

At 2-3 overall, 0-2 in the conference and with losses against all three Power-4 opponents so far, the Golden Gophers' path to bowl eligibility gets murkier with another loss Saturday.

Meanwhile, the No. 11-ranked Trojans (3-1, 1-1) are vying for much different stakes with Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff hopes very much in play.

The major wrinkle for USC this week is the possibility/likelihood it won't have its best defensive player, versatile linebacker Eric Gentry, available Saturday.

Coach Lincoln Riley said earlier in the week that Gentry and safety Akili Arnold would be questionable for the game, though Arnold seems to have a much better chance of seeing the field vs. Minnesota. Asked for a further update Thursday in his last media availability leading up to the game, Riley deferred to the pregame Big Ten injury report all teams have to file.

So what does it mean if the Trojans don't have Gentry, who leads the unit with 30 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and a forced fumble?

"Eric, he’s a very good player. It changes some things. Certainly not everything. I mean, there’s maybe a few things that we might not do with Eric not there. And there’s maybe a few things with the other skill sets with Eric not out there that we might do more," Riley said. "I’d still venture to say, you know, 80 to 90 percent of what we’re going to do, we’re probably going to do whether he’s there or not. And so we do have a lot of confidence in the other guys at those positions."

Converted safety Anthony Beavers was working in some of Gentry's specialized roles this week in practice, but as defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn said there is no one-for-one replacement for the unique 6-foot-6 Gentry.

“Normally, when a guy’s out, you just put in his backup and you do the same stuff. You don’t really have a backup Eric," Lynn said. "There’s no one else that can do all the stuff that he does, so that’s the biggest challenge. It just makes us have to use guys a little bit different.”

With that said, let's look at what the Trojans are up against in this matchup with the Gophers ...

Who | No. 11 USC (3-1, 1-1 Big Ten) at Minnesota (2-3, 0-2)

Where | Huntington Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota

When | 4:30 p.m. PT Saturday

TV | Big Ten Network with Guy Haberman, Yogi Roth and Rhett Lewis

Radio | ESPN LA 710AM starting at 2:30 p.m. PT with Pete Arbogast, Shaun Cody, Cody Kessler, Su’a Cravens, Jordan Moore, Jason Schwartz.

Betting line | USC -8.5, over/under 46

Series history | USC is 6-1-1 all-time vs. Minnesota with the last meeting coming in 2011 -- a 19-17 Trojans win in the Coliseum. USC last played at Minnesota in 2010, winning 32-21.

The Gophers are in their eighth season under coach P.J. Fleck, who is 52-37 (29-34 in the Big Ten) in that time, including an 11-win season in 2019 and a pair of nine-win campaigns in 2021-22.

Minnesota was just 6-7 last season, though, and is off to a rough start this year with a 2-3 record. The Gophers have yet to beat a power conference foe, losing 19-17 at home to North Carolina, 31-14 at home to Iowa and 27-24 on the road at Michigan. Their two wins came against Rhode Island (48-0) and Nevada (27-0).

With those two shutouts against lesser competition, Minnesota has one of the better statistical defensive ratings in the country, ranked 5th in total defense (226.8 YPG) and 1st in passing defense (96.8 YPG). Of course, that's skewed by playing heavy rushing attacks with Iowa and Michigan both attempting less than 20 passes and North Carolina and Nevada only a little more aggressive through the air. This should be a much different test for the Gophers' secondary.

Minnesota was almost no threat in the passing game a year ago, and that's changed with the addition of New Hampshire QB transfer Max Brosmer, who was a first-team FCS All-American last season while passing for 3,464 yards, 29 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. So far this season, Brosmer has been up and down, passing for 1,094 yards, 6 TDs and 4 INTs, but he has nonetheless elevated the Gophers' passing attack into a viable threat for defenses to account for now.

He's third in the Big Ten in passing attempts, fourth in attempts per game (30.8), fifth in completions and completions per game (20.40), seventh in passing yards and completion percentage (66.2) and eighth in passing yards per game (218.8). Brosmer's completion percentage of 66.2 percent currently ranks second in program single-season history (min. 100 attempts) behind only Tanner Morgan's 66.9 percent performance in 2022.

“I think their quarterback is a very good player. He has a ton of experience, he can make every throw. They do a really good job of making their play-action look exactly like their run game. They do stuff from a schematic standpoint that challenges you downfield, so we have to make sure our communication’s on point and we do a great job defending the deep balls," USC defensive coordinator D'Anton Lynn said.

Brosmer has two standout playmakers to work with in third-year sophomore running back Darius Taylor and redshirt senior wide receiver Daniel Jackson.

Taylor has 258 rushing yards and 5 TDs on 5.4 yards per carry so far, along with 21 catches for 150 yards and a TD, while Jackson leads the Gophers with 28 catches for 326 yards and a TD. Jackson has been targeted at least five times in every game this season, including at least nine targets in each of the last three contests, with a high of 12 coming against Iowa on Sept. 21. Veteran receiver Elijah Spencer has also been productive with 18 catches for 220 yards and a TD.

Minnesota has used three different offensive line groupings so far, but it's stuck with the same group for the last three games led by left tackle Aireontae Ersery, who led the Big Ten, was third among FBS tackles and fourth overall last season with a PFF run-blocking grade of 86.2. He allowed 2 two sacks and 15 total pressures in 841 snaps on offense.

That left side of the line is also anchored by veteran guard Tyler Cooper, who led all Big Ten guard with an 83.3 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2023.

Sophomore Greg Johnson has taken over as the starter at center this season, while redshirt sophomore Ashton Beers has settled in at right guard and veteran returning starter Quinn Carroll mans the right tackle spot.

"They motion a lot and they do it in different personnel packages, so it's not like we'll just have the same 11 guys out there. We'll be in base, we'll be in Trojan, so we have to make sure we're all on the same page," Lynn said.

Minnesota has a new defensive coordinator, with former DC Joe Rossi leaving for Michigan State and Corey Hetherman coming in after coaching the linebackers at Rutgers.

As noted, the Gophers have the top passing defense in the country and the No. 5 overall defense, statistically, which is impressive even if skewed by playing mostly ground-oriented teams.

Still, Minnesota has not allowed more than 117 passing yards (Rhode Island) in any game this season, and outside of giving up 272 rushing yards to Iowa, the Gophers have been pretty stout against the run as well, holding Michigan and North Carolina to just 3.6 yards per carry and totally shutting down Rhode Island (18 rushing yards) and Nevada (58) on the ground.

The Gophers have 8 interceptions already -- led by 2 each from safety Kerry Brown and cornerback Ethan Robinson -- and a fumble recovery. Safety Jack Henderson is the No. 4 safety in coverage in the Big Ten, according to PFF, grading out at 78.6. The versatile defensive back is tied for the team lead with 1.5 sacks and is tied for second with 2.5 tackles for loss. He's also got 15 tackles, a pick-six and a fumble recovery. He's the only player in the country to post that stat line.

Linebackers Maverick Baranowski and Cody Lindenberg lead the Gophers with 36 and 35 tackles, respectively, and have combined for 5 tackles for loss.

Minnesota has 9 sacks as a team with no player tallying more than 1.5 so far. Jah Joyner has 1.5 sacks and a team-high 5 QB hurries. Last year, Joyner was third in the Big Ten and tied for 11th nationally with a PFF pass rush grade of 90.8.

True freshman Koi Perich, a four-star top-100 national prospect, has returned five punts for a total of 132 yards this season, which is already the most by a Gopher since Craig James had 139 in 2014, while Perich's average of 26.4 yards per punt return would shatter the Gopher single-season record of 16.9 set by Paul Giel in 1953. Last week at Michigan, Perich returned two punts for 82 yards, the most punt return yards by a player in eight years under Fleck. Perich also has an interception on defense and is the team's primary kick returner with six returns for 106 yards.

Minnesota has struggled in the kicking game as Dragan Kesich is just 6 of 11 on field goal attempts so far, though he does have 22 touchbacks on 25 kickoffs.

Punter Mark Crawford averages 44.1 yards per punt with 4 punts of more than 50 yards so far.