There were a couple head-scratchers on USC's slate last season, hard-to-fathom losses that contributed to that 5-7 finish that still hangs over the program.
Such as that 15-14 loss to Cal in the Coliseum, a game the Trojans led 14-0 at halftime before imploding.
Now USC (6-4, 5-2 Pac-12) goes on the road to Berkeley to try to script a different fate against the Golden Bears (5-4, 2-4) -- and in this final stretch of the season.
The TrojanSports.com staff weighs in with its predictions and perspective on the matchup and other topics:
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1. Based off what you saw last weekend, how do you now expect the rest of the season to play out for USC?
Ryan Young: "I saw enough last week to reinforce my expectation that USC wins out to finish the regular season. This team is still plenty flawed and won't make anything easy, but I think the talent difference is enough against Cal and UCLA and last week showed us this team is still motivated and competing. I don't think Utah stumbles down the stretch, therefore I still feel any Pac-12 title hopes are a reach, but 8-4 has a much better ring to it than last year's 5-7. It may be short of expectations regardless, but these last couple games (and the bowl) should matter to the Trojans, and I sense they indeed do."
Tajwar Khandaker: "Despite the ups and downs thus far, I expect the Trojans to take care of business over the final pair of regular-season games. Cal and UCLA are both inferior opponents to those the Trojans have faced in past weeks, and USC should be motivated enough to play hard as they cling to hopes for a potential Pac-12 championship game berth. I do expect Utah to slip up and lose a game in their last three, giving USC a shot at the conference title. I won’t make a prediction for what happens then until I see these last two games play out. In a more football specific sense, I get the feeling that we’re due for an offensive explosion for USC as Kedon Slovis continues to work his groove and the run game gets more bodies back. The Trojans should put up a lot of points to close out the year."
2. How do you expect USC will handle the backfield this week with Stephen Carr expected to be available?
Ryan: "This is more hope than expectation. Now that USC has decided to remove the redshirt possibility for Christon, I hope the coaching staff makes it worthwhile to him. Even with Carr back and Vavae Malepeai close to a return as well, Christon needs 12-15 touches per game the rest of the way. I think he gets there this week as we don't know how much Carr can handle after missing three games with a hamstring strain. Whatever he can provide, though, should help adjust the offensive balance a little bit from recent weeks."
Tajwar: "I think the right move is to start Christon and give Carr a slightly smaller workload. Last week the coaching staff gave the freshman 20 carries. It’s unlikely they’ll be willing to do so again. I’m assuming Christon and Carr will split snaps about 60-40. If Carr looks good early, though, the coaching staff might be willing to start leaning on him through the contest.
