No relief for Trojans with Sun Devils up next

Before the season started, most Pac-10 fans had last weekend’s USC-California game circled as a marquee matchup.

Not as many thought it would be just the first of two in a row for the Trojans.

USC survived Cal, winning 23-17 at home. But there’s not much time for them to celebrate with undefeated Arizona State coming to town on Saturday.

The No. 15 Sun Devils are 5-0 and coming off a bye week, so head coach Dirk Koetter expects his team to be rested and ready. But he doesn’t buy into the concept that the extra time off will make beating the defending national champs and No. 1 team in the nation any easier. Nor does he accept the concept that Cal’s near miss — the Bears were in the red zone at the end of the game with a chance to win — makes USC any less of a powerhouse.

“Came within nine yards of what? They lost,” Koetter said of Cal, turning his attention to the Trojans. “You could look at it both sides. They have three games this year — Virginia Tech, Stanford and Cal — where the outcome was in doubt in the fourth quarter. But you don’t win that many games in a row by luck. They’re doing something right because they’re always coming out on top in the end.”

One thing that could help Koetter and his Sun Devils is the absence of USC wide receiver Steve Smith, who will miss the game after breaking his leg against Cal.

Of course, Smith’s loss just means more chances for USC head coach Pete Carroll to put the ball in the hands of his running backs, a thought that doesn’t make Arizona State too happy.

“We have a suspicion we’ll be seeing Reggie Bush all over the place,” Koetter said. “And USC still has plenty of talented guys. I expect that we’ll see Reggie Bush and LenDale White touch the ball often.”

Still, the loss of Smith will hurt a receiving corps that is the one perceived weakness on a superb team. Freshman Fred Davis has been moved to wideout from tight end and Carroll said he could become a part of this week’s game plan.

“It is a big loss for us,” Carroll said of Smith’s injury. “He has been the go-to guy, the guy we’ve had the most confidence in because of his background playing this last year.

“He’s a possession guy that can get down the field and make plays as well. We’ve used him extensively so we’re going to have to regroup a little bit, move some guys around and see if we can create a combination of guys.”

Feeling ducky

Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti was in good spirits three days after his team’s comeback win at Washington State on Saturday. The Ducks are 2-3, but 1-1 in the Pac-10 and back in the hunt for an upper-echelon bowl game.

“Coming back and scoring 27 points in the fourth quarter to win a football game against the No. 2 ranked defensive team in the conference — No. 16 in the nation — is pretty outstanding,” Bellotti said. “I don’t know if you ever talk about saving the season because there are a lot of teams left to go, but certainly it got us on the right track. We had been inconsistent offensively. We’ve been getting a lot of yards and more yards than our opponents but not enough points.”

But Oregon’s offensive exploits had more than just WSU unhappy. Arizona head coach Mike Stoops, whose team goes to Autzen Stadium this week, wasn’t thrilled to see quarterback Kellen Clemens catch fire.

“We’ve got to try to keep him off-balance a little bit, a little off-guard,” Stoops said. “He can’t sit there (while you) let him attack you. You’ve got to try to blitz early in counts, set up some plays, put a little pressure on them to make decisions early. They have a lot of weapons and I think they finally got on track.”

Notes

Oregon State coach Mike Riley hopes the bye week has helped his team get off the mat following a 1-4 start. The Beavers play at Washington this weekend. “I’m thinking that this bye will give us a breath of fresh air and a new outlook,” Riley said. … Cal coach Jeff Tedford suggested that his team took a while to get over the hangover caused by the close loss to USC, but insisted his team was doing well and would be fine this weekend against UCLA.