Arizona State @ Southern California preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 26, 2015 ) Southern California 42, Arizona State 14

USC will finish September below .500 for the first time since 2001, but the Trojans are still double-digit favorites for Saturday's Pac-12 game against unbeaten Arizona State at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. USC's four losses this season have been by a combined 14 points, while Arizona State's hot start is somewhat misleading as the Sun Devils have allowed an average of 34.3 points through their first four games.

The Achilles' heel for Arizona State the last two seasons has been its tendency to surrender big plays through the air. The Sun Devils have been scorched for touchdown strikes of 87, 59, 75, 66 and 74 yards this season, and a year ago were burned for 24 pass plays of 40 yards or more, six more than any other team in the country. The Trojans went with a new starting quarterback last week in freshman Sam Darnold and he finished 18-of-26 for 253 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. Darnold has an elite receiver in JuJu Smith-Schuster who can cause Arizona State problems - and he and Darnold seemed to be on the same page in last week's loss to Utah, hooking up eight times for 98 yards.

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: USC -10

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12): The Sun Devils feature decent offensive balance with running backs Demario Richard and Kalen Ballage, as well as quarterback Manny Wilkins. Richard has done most of the heavy work this season, rushing 90 times for 348 yards and a touchdown, while Ballage has been unstoppable near the goal line, scoring nine touchdowns on his 43 carries this season, second-most in the nation. Wilkins has completed 67.2 percent of his 125 throws this season, which ranks 12th in the nation but is just fourth-best in the pass-heavy Pac-12.

ABOUT USC (1-3, 0-2): While the Sun Devils lead the conference in scoring at 48.8 points a game, the Trojans are last at 22. They received a huge performance from running back Justin Davis last week against Utah, as he piled up 126 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries, but are still waiting for sophomore Ronald Jones II to get untracked; he has been limited to 132 yards through the first four games, including two games in which he averaged fewer than two yards a carry. If there's a strength for USC so far this season, its the defensive secondary anchored by Adoree’ Jackson, Iman Marshall and Leon McQuay III.

EXTRA POINTS

1. USC is playing its 600th game in the Coliseum, where it will play four of its next five games.

2. Arizona State K Zane Gonzalez needs five field goals to break the FBS career record.

3. The Sun Devils are 4-0 for the first time since 2007, when they began 8-0 before finishing 10-3.

PREDICTION: USC 27, Arizona State 23