Washington State @ USC preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 25, 2010 ) Southern California 50, Washington State 16

No. 22 USC hopes explosive tailback Silas Redd will be ready when it begins Pac-12 Conference play against visiting Washington State on Saturday. Redd missed last week's game at Hawaii, further hampering an offense in flux. The Trojans still haven't decided on a starting quarterback for Saturday with Max Wittek and Cody Kessler still battling for Matt Barkley's old job.

The Cougars opened the season with a hard-fought 31-24 loss at Auburn last week. Washington State surrendered a kickoff return for a touchdown and had its comeback hopes ended when Connor Halliday was picked off in the end zone with five minutes left. Washington State has lost 20 straight games to ranked opponents and hasn't beaten USC since 2002.

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1. LINE: USC -15.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE (0-1, 0-0 Pac-12): Halliday was 35-for-65 for 344 yards, looking fairly comfortable directing the air raid offense in the Cougars' season opener. Washington State has lost eight straight games against USC and due to scheduling quirks hasn't played the Trojans since 2010. That is probably a good thing as they've lost by an average of 32.7 points during the eight-game skid.

ABOUT USC (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12): Redd visited Dr. James Andrews during the week and is expected to be cleared to play after undergoing a minor procedure on his knee. Wide receiver Marqise Lee, the defending Pac-12 Player of the Year, had eight catches for 104 yards in the 30-13 win over Hawaii, but he also had a couple of uncharacteristic drops and lost a fumble in USC territory while returning a punt. Kessler's numbers (10-for-19, 95 yards, TD, INT) were just a bit better than Wittek (5-for-10, 77 yards), who seemed destined for the starting job when camp opened.

EXTRA POINTS

1. In Redd's place, USC sophomore Tre Madden rushed for 109 yards against Hawaii last week.

2. Only eight players on the Washington State roster have played in a game against the Trojans.

3. This is the first of three straight home games for USC.

PREDICTION: USC 35, Washington State 21