Arizona State (2-1) enters off a tough loss, 17-14 at Illinois. ASU entered that game having totaled 75 points in its two opening wins over UC Davis and Missouri. But the Illini sacked ASU QB Brock Osweiler six times and picked him off twice. Osweiler completed 25 of 45 passes for 256 yards. He ran for a touchdown and threw for another as Arizona State outgained Illinois 362-240. The loss knocked the Sun Devils out of the Top 25.

That loss was especially costly for ASU because it lost defensive end Junior Onyeali, the Pac-10 Defensive Freshman of the Year, to a knee injury. ASU’s 2010 sacks leader tore a meniscus and will need surgery, with his season now in doubt.

Southern Cal (3-0) has opened with two down-to-the-wire wins over Minnesota and Utah before handling Syracuse, 38-17, pretty easily last week. Matt Barkley passed for 324 yards and a school record-tying five touchdowns to five different receivers against the Orange. Barkley completed 26 of 39 passes without being intercepted. He has thrown nine TD passes while being picked off just once this year.

USC's 38 points snapped a string of six straight games in which the Trojans had scored fewer than 30 points. The Trojans entered the game ranked 90th in scoring among the country's 120 FBS schools, averaging 21 points. Robert Woods caught eight passes for 82 yards and a touchdown for the Trojans, giving him 33 receptions this season, the most in any three-game span by a USC player in school history.

Both Southern Cal and ASU are in the Pac-12 South. But with USC ineligible for postseason play, the Sun Devils are considered by many as the favorite to represent the division in the inaugural conference championship game.

Get the best NCAA football odds and props at the Web’s gaming leader