SCliff Notes: Trojan Schedule Looks Daunting and More USC Football News

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1st & 10:

Reassessing the USC schedule… The topsy-turvy weekend in college football didn’t just provide moment after moment of shock-inducing entertainment (and heartbreak depending on who you root for). It shifted the entire college football landscape, including USC’s.

While it is easy to fall into doom and gloom scenarios and set up domain names like FireSarkisian.com or WilcoxMustGo.net, the Trojans still control most of their destiny going forward in the Pac-12. The trouble is, USC’s schedule only gets tougher from here.

At season’s start, the conventional wisdom said the Trojans needed to survive the tough opening slate before getting a midseason reprieve against such teams as Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Washington State and Cal. Rivalry games against Notre Dame and UCLA would then cap off the season.

Unfortunately, that easy stretch now looks a whole lot tougher, with an undefeated and suddenly top-ten Arizona next up on the slate and No. 24 Utah also on the road to follow a couple weeks later.

Even the cupcakes remaining on USC’s schedule come with some bite of their own. Colorado has lost four games but they’ve challenged nearly everyone they’ve played. The Cougars took Oregon to the edge and beat Utah. Cal meanwhile has four wins and their lone loss was a one possession game to Arizona.

UCLA remains a top team in the conference even after the loss to Utah, while Notre Dame may be typically overrated at No. 6, but they look a significantly more dangerous team with Everett Golson back at the helm.

Hold onto your seats Trojan fans, this could either be an epic run of games…or a painful one.

In Other News…

• In case you missed it, USC (predictably) dropped out of the AP top 25 after Saturday’s loss. The Trojans’ next opponent, Arizona, made a huge jump into it. (Reign Of Troy)
• We took a look at the Studs and Duds from Saturday’s game. Nelson Agholor makes the list, but the duds certainly outweighed the studs. (Reign Of Troy)
  • For more from us, Michael Castillo broke down the numbers from the game (Reign Of Troy)
• How bad was USC’s performance against ASU on defense? Max Meyer thinks Justin Wilcox should be fired for it. (Neon Tommy)
• While the calls for changes continue, Steve Sarkisian spent Sunday trying to explain what went wrong. (OC Register)
• Garry Paskwietz has some notes on the game, including some final thoughts on the final three minutes. (ESPN)
• USC’s Pac-12 title hopes took a big hit Saturday, as Kyle Kensing explains. (Bleacher Report)
• As always, Jordan Moore has six talking points from USC vs. ASU. There’s a highlight real at the bottom but everyone will understand if you don’t want to relive that game. (RipsIt Blog)
• Evan Budrovich has five reasons USC lost to Arizona. Everyone you’d expect to be there is there. (Conquest Chronicles)
• Rashaun Haylock takes a look at USC’s Hail Mary blues. (Fox Sports)
• For the “raise your eyebrows” news nugget of the day, USC opened as 3.5-point favorites over Arizona despite being unranked and on the road. (Reign of Troy)

Stat of the Day:

USC hasn’t turned the ball over in four straight games, the Trojans’ longest streak since 1995.

Tweets of the Day: