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Utah's the higher-ranked team, with fewer losses and home-field advantage, and yet some gambling establishments list USC as a slight favorite.

If only just, a feeling prevails that success for the No. 19 Utes will prove fleeting.

That may not be logical. After all, while questions abound about Utah's passing game, few doubt their rushing attack, defense or special teams, and it stands to reason that the passing game can't fall much lower than last in the Pac-12.

But Ute diehards can be forgiven if they're less than confident about beating the No. 20 Trojans.

History favors heartbreak.

In the inaugural Pac-12 game, in 2011, Jordan Wynn drove the Utes to the USC 24 before Coleman Petersen's last-second 41-yard attempt at forcing overtime was blocked and returned for a touchdown. In 2012, early fumble recoveries by Nate Orchard and Star Lotulelei gave the Utes a 14-0 lead less than two minutes after kickoff, and it wasn't until Marqise Lee's 83-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that the Trojans became a safe bet. Last year's 19-3 loss was more lopsided, but Utah's defense held USC to just 260 total yards at the Coliseum.

The Utes are on a more even footing now. Time — roughly three or four hours of it Saturday night — will tell if the narrative is truly changing.

Time, Place and [Radio Waves In] Space • The Utes and Trojans will kick off at 8 p.m. Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, where Utah hasn't beaten USC since 1915. FOX Sports 1 will televise the game, and it will air on the radio at ESPN 700. It is Utah's blackout game for the 2014 season, so if you're rooting for the home team and collective experience is your thing, dress accordingly.

The Set-Up • Utah hasn't been ranked while facing a ranked opponent since the 2010 Las Vegas Bowl — which is, incidentally, where it last defeated USC, in 2001.

And while we're on the subject of bowls: Who wants to go to a bowl game?

Only the most optimistic (and, to be fair, the most correct) fans would have predicted that Utah could secure bowl eligibility by Halloween.

It has, of course, been almost three years since the program's nine-year bowl run came to an end, and most observers would call the 2014 season a success if it extends beyond November.

That's not Utah's goal, however.

The team is in the thick of the Pac-12 South title race, and the loser of this game will be darn well eliminated from it. While USC is ranked lower than Utah, Arizona State (No. 14) and Arizona (No. 15), the Trojans top the tables at 4-1 in conference with Washington State, Cal and No. 25 UCLA remaining.

Utah — or anybody else, save maybe ASU, which beat USC and holds the tiebreaker — is going to have a bear of a time catching Southern Cal if the Utes lose Saturday.

Opposing Coach • Through the informative power of Twitter, we know how much Utah fans love BYU angles, so we'll oblige you by mentioning that Steve Sarkisian became a second-team All-American quarterback for the Cougars after first attending USC and struggling as a walk-on middle infielder on the Trojans' baseball team. By the time Sarkisian was a Cougar, Kyle Whittingham was game-planning for him as Utah's defensive coordinator — winning once and losing once. "He was a good quarterback," Whittingham said Wednesday. "Very accurate." As Washington, Sarkisian's Huskies got the better of Whittingham's Utes in two meetings. Whittingham said Sarkisian's approach at USC has been to increase the tempo on offense — but not to wholly alter what the Trojans were doing under Lane Kiffin, a co-worker of Sarkisian's during the 2005-06 seasons.

Utah ties • Utah's roster feature 35 players from California, while USC has no players from Utah after the graduation last year of Cottonwood alum John Martinez. As Kyle Goon wrote Thursday, Utah junior linebacker Jared Norris and USC junior quarterback Cody Kessler were classmates at Centennial High School and remain very close friends. And Kyle Whittingham is related to standout sophomore safety/linebacker Su'a Cravens: Cravens' uncle is married to Whittingham's sister. Cravens' brother, Siaki, was a defensive lineman at the U. in 2008 before transferring to Hawaii. USC freshman offensive lineman Viane Talamaivao is the nephew of former Ute Pene Talamaivao. The Utes are the lone Utah-based team to ever beat USC: Utah State is 0-5 and BYU is 0-2.

Pregame Quotable • Devontae Booker, on Whittingham's comments that his carries might be limited after receiving 89 in his last three games. "He may have said that. But if it comes down to it, he'll give me more than 30."

Media Guide Nuggets • USC is one of three schools — Notre Dame and UCLA are the others — that has never played an FCS (or Division I-AA) opponent since the establishment of the divisions in 1978. … USC offensive guard Aundrey Walker is the youngest of 14 brothers, and has three sisters. … Trojans wear a "Z" decal on back of their helmets to honor former distance star Louis Zamperini, who died in July at 97 and is the subject of Laura Hillenbrand's best-selling biography "Unbroken," which has been made into a movie directed by Angelina Jolie. … USC has been two seven Rose Bowls, won seven conference titles and was named national champion three times during 20 seasons in which the World Cup was played.

Telling Stat • USC allowed a whopping 452 yards on the ground against Boston College, but in six other games they've allowed a combined 623 — 104 yards per game, and just 93 in the Pac-12. "We made mistakes against Boston College that we never make, and since then we've been pretty good in (defending) the run," Cravens told The Associated Press. In Utah's favor, though, none of the Trojans' opponents in those games average as many yards per game on the ground as the Utes (211).

Trojans Offensive Outlook • Southern Cal ranks 31st in the nation in total yards per game, with 463, but there are few offenses in the nation with as much high-end talent. Kessler is on the cusp of serious Heisman consideration. He was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for his seven-touchdown performance last week against Colorado, and he has thrown just one interception in 223 attempts this season, completing almost 70 percent of his passes. Junior Nelson Agholor has been less explosive than he was as a sophomore, averaging just 11.1 yards per catch compared to 16.4 and 17.9 in his first and second years, but he still has 48 grabs for 533 yards and seven touchdowns, and true freshman JuJu Smith is as talented as any to ever don the Pantone 201C and Pantone123C. The one apparent weakness is that USC's offensive line is unspectacular in pass protection and unusually young — two freshmen, two sophomores and a junior — but young does not equate to small: freshman right guard Damien Mama and sophomore right tackle Zach Banner are a combined 720 pounds. Running behind the likes of those bruisers, Javorius "Buck" Allen has 909 yards and eight touchdowns on just 150 carries — adding 24 receptions for 290 yards.

Trojans Defensive Outlook • It's pretty simple: Outside of Boston College, Southern Cal has been stout against the run. It's a different story against the pass, where they rank No. 88, allowing 251 yards per game. They are opportunistic, however, snatching nine interceptions — two from Cravens, who also has 9.5 tackles for a loss — and they clamp down on third down and in the red zone. Junior defensive end Leonard Williams is the crown jewel of the group. Williams is a likely top-10 pick in the 2015 NFL draft, and junior left tackle Jeremiah Poutasi will have his hands full with the 6-foot-5, 300-pounder, who has 45 tackles, 4.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. Senior inside linebacker Hayes Pullard leads the Trojans with 53 tackles and junior cornerback Kevon Seymour has broken up nine pass plays.

Trojans Special Teams Outlook • Not so hot, really. USC is in the final year under its 75-man scholarship limit, and only had 58 recruited scholarship players available against Colorado — 45 of whom played. Depth matters on special teams, and the Trojans rank in the middle near the bottom in FBS rankings for net punting (106th), punt returns (48th), kickoff return defense (114) and kickoff returns (107). Senior kicker Andre Heidari has made 46 field goals in his career, and is 6-of-8 this season with two from more than 50 yards.

Required Reading

Injury report • The Utes will still be without linebacker Jason Whittingham (wrist). Senior linebacker Jacoby Hale has been given 100 percent clearance and may play more against USC than he did against Oregon State, Whittingham said. Senior free safety Tevin Carter's status remains in doubt due to an undisclosed injury — Whittingham pinned them at "50-50" on Wednesday. USC starting wideout George Farmer is questionable with a hamstring injury, a status shared by wideout Ajene Harris and fullback Soma Vainuku.

Three Big Questions

Kyle Whittingham was asked Wednesday for his three keys to the game. Three keys, three questions, same difference. Anyway, we're taking the easy way out and letting the football coach speak for himself:

""We've got to be able to throw the football more efficiently than we have. That's pretty obvious. We have got to get some takeaways with our defense. We've got to create some short fields. The USC defense is very good, and we've got to get our offense some short-field situations. And the kicking game will be vital."

— Matthew Piper

Twitter: @matthew_piper