TEMPE, Ariz. -- When Arizona State beat Cal in Berkeley on Sept. 29, it exorcised a road demon that had spanned 14 seasons. ASU faces another this week, though this one likely will prove far more difficult to shake.
With their Pac-12 South chances just barely intact, the Sun Devils travel to Los Angeles to take on No. 19 USC at the Coliseum, where they have not won since 1999.
"This is one of those wins we need right now as a program, a signature win," ASU coach Todd Graham said. "For these guys to go and win this game when everybody else has pretty much counted us out as far as having a chance to win the South ...
"If you can go and win that thing, it's immeasurable what it does for you."
ASU (5-4, 3-3 Pac-12) had a similar opportunity to capture a marquee win three weeks ago when hosting No. 3 Oregon. That game turned into a humbling blowout loss. Given the Devils' current three-game losing streak, a win over the Trojans (6-3, 4-3) would be nice for the program, though perhaps not particularly monumental.
What is perhaps more important is ASU's shot at playing in the Pac-12 championship game. A loss this week would eliminate the Sun Devils from contention for the division, as USC would move to 5-3 in the conference and could finish no worse than 5-4, a record ASU could not surpass. The race would be pared to USC and No. 18 UCLA, with the two teams meeting next week at the Rose Bowl.
"I really believe the winner of this game is in a lot better position than people think they are," Graham said. "These are the kind of wins we have to have. It's why we're here."
An upset win would put ASU in fairly good position, as the remaining matchups remaining are against Washington State and Arizona; UCLA must play Stanford and USC in its final two games.
USC enters the game the heavy favorite despite a losing streak of its own. The Trojans dropped a thriller to Arizona in Tucson two weeks ago before falling short in a shootout with Oregon at home last week. That the Wildcats could pull off the upset may give the Sun Devils hope, but that game wasn't in hostile territory.
It's easy to see why so many favored USC to win a national championship before this season, as the Trojans have an arsenal of weapons perhaps bested only by Oregon. The assortment starts with senior quarterback Matt Barkley, a likely top-five pick in the NFL draft, and a pair of elite receivers for him to target.
"Marqise Lee is hands down the best receiver in the country," Graham said this week. "He can take it to the house any time he puts his hands on the ball. Obviously, (Robert) Woods is right there. He gets the ball the most. They have other receivers as well, but Woods is a special receiver.
"You want to play against the best in the country, and these guys are the best in the country. They are, hands down, the best receiving corps in the country."
It doesn't end there. USC has received a big boost in the backfield from senior running back Silas Redd, who joined the Trojans after being freed from his commitment to Penn State following the school's NCAA sanctions. Redd is averaging 81.3 yards per game and leads the team with 732 rushing yards this season.
Graham admitted that it's nearly impossible to stop USC's offensive playmakers, making the best course of action simply containing them as much as possible.
"You don't want to be sitting there trying to defend everything they do," Graham said. "You're going to have to dictate to them. You're going to have to mix things up and keep them off-balance."
Graham hopes that plan of attack will produce some turnovers. USC has turned the ball over three or more times in each of its three losses this season. If ASU can force Barkley to make mistakes, its offense could see a few extra opportunities.
The Sun Devils defense should be back to full strength this week, led by defensive tackle Will Sutton. After suffering a bone bruise on his knee Oct. 18, Sutton essentially missed two games before returning last week at less than 100 percent. He said this week he expects to be fully healthy, and that should help a defense that's allowed an average of more than 40 points and 450 yards over the last three weeks.
USC's defense has had its own woes of late, particularly in surrendering 62 points and 730 yards to Oregon last week. The defense is giving up an average of 24.2 points (seventh in the Pac-12) and 406.4 yards (eighth) per game, numbers that have some calling for the firing of defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, coach Lane Kiffin's father.
"I think we can run the ball on these guys, establish that," ASU quarterback Taylor Kelly said. "And we've got some good one-on-one matchups with their corners and our receivers."
No matter how ASU approaches it, this game is do-or-die as far as Pac-12 conference aspirations. The Sun Devils could still get bowl-eligible with a win in the final two weeks but would still have fallen short of the goals they set at the start of the season, lofty as they may have been.
A win, on the other hand, would do wonders to quell the "same ol' Sun Devils" chatter from an increasingly disillusioned fan base that's impressed only so much by a clear culture change and is starving for results on the field.
