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The Pac-12's football week begins early, with a game of considerable interest to Utah fans. USC and Utah are moving toward an epic meeting in the Pac-12 South, Oct. 24 in Los Angeles. The Trojans will host Washington on Thursday night, then visit Notre Dame before facing the Utes. But that's getting ahead of the story. A look at this week's games:  Thursday's game Washington at USC, 7 p.m. MDT, ESPN Both teams were off last weekend, as is the scheduling pattern for Thursday games in the Pac-12 – with Stanford and UCLA meeting next Thursday. USC was very impressive in its last game, a 42-14 victory at Arizona State. Washington is coming off a 30-24 home loss to California. USC quarterback Cody Kessler should be able to exploit Washington's secondary, much the way Cal's Jared Goff did. And the Trojans have a better running game to support Kessler. After road teams have gone 8-2 in Pac-12 games this season, USC coach Steve Sarkisian's reunion with his former team with launch the home teams' sweep this week. USC 35, Washington 21.  Saturday's games Oregon State at Arizona, 2 p.m. MDT, Fox Sports 1 If the Beavers score in the 50s, Arizona's defensive issues will have become an even bigger problem in Tucson. The Wildcats have allowed 56 points to UCLA and 55 to Stanford in their two Pac-12 games. Coach Rich Rodriguez says the deficiencies are fixable, and the first part of the cure is hosting Oregon State. Having said that, the Beavers scored 24 points in a loss to Stanford in their last outing, and should top that total against Arizona. So there's also some pressure on the Wildcat offense to respond, whether or not quarterback Anu Solomon is able to play. Arizona 35, Oregon State 28. Washington State at Oregon, 4 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks The Ducks are back at Autzen Stadium for the first time since their 62-20 loss to Utah. Oregon has averaged 50.8 points against WSU in the last eight meetings. This year's offense will have a tough time matching that figure and the Ducks have to respect quarterback Luke Falk and the Cougar offense. This should be a competitive game, but it is difficult to imagine Oregon losing twice in a row at home. Oregon 45, Washington State 31.  Colorado at Arizona State, 8 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks ASU coach Todd Graham pointed out that the Sun Devils have a game every year that causes people to dismiss them. That's a problem, but it also is impressive that they keep bouncing back. This season's example was a victory at UCLA, following a home loss to USC. ASU will try to maintain some momentum going into next week's game at Utah. Colorado is improving on defense, but this will be another tough test after ASU quarterback Mike Bercovici played very well last week. Arizona State 35, Colorado 24.  California at Utah, 8 p.m. MDT, ESPN It would be asking a lot of quarterbacks Jared Goff of Cal and Travis Wilson of Utah to go into the NFL and replicate the careers of Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith. What is reasonable is expecting them to reprise an entertaining game of 12 years ago at Rice-Eccles Stadium.  Smith made his first career start for Utah against Cal and led a winning touchdown drive in a 31-24 victory, although running back Brandon Warfield did most of the work in the end. In that 2003 game, Rodgers came off the bench and completed 15 of 25 passes for 224 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears. Smith posted 207 yards of running and passing in Urban Meyer's offense.  In this case, it might be 31-24 at halftime – or after three quarters, anyway. Utah's defense is outstanding, but has not faced a quarterback of Goff's ability this season. And while the Utes may not match their 62-point effort against Oregon two weeks ago, Cal's defense will have trouble stopping them. Utah 45, California 35.  – Kurt Kragthorpe