DG on PX - USC, Cal talking the talk

Both teams are saying all the right things after early season losses, but which team will deliver when Trojans and Bears face off Saturday?

BERKELEY, Calif. – Watching freshman quarterback Matt Barkley kick field goals – hitting a 45-yarder and showing the distance on a pair from 50 that hooked right – during Friday’s walkthrough at Memorial Stadium, there was no evidence the Trojans had been through the ringer for two weeks. No clue this was the same team that lost at Washington, the signature stunner in a season that’s already been defined by upsets after just one month. No signs senior running back Stafon Johnson had days earlier survived an accident that would have killed a lesser man.

Cal has traveled its own winding road, going from sudden conference frontrunners to 39-point losers in 60 minutes at Oregon. Coach Jeff Tedford swears the Bears won’t duplicate their 2007 collapse, it was a one-week occurrence and having the Trojans come to town is the perfect bounce-back remedy.

And so what was to be the Pac-10 game of the year, a showdown even bigger than 2004’s heart-stopping thriller between No. 1 USC and No. 7 Cal, instead takes on a different focus. Winner can keep an eye on Pasadena, the loser’s season all but ended with more than two months left to go.

The reasons are pretty simple – turnovers, pass protection, converting opportunities into touchdowns.

“It’s pretty basic, you know,” Tedford said. “We didn’t make plays and you can’t do that.”

After taking a 3-0 lead against Oregon, the Bears made exactly zero plays the rest of the way. Against the Huskies, the Trojans made plenty only to give the ball away, managing just 13 points despite gaining 360 yards and averaging 6.5 yards per play.

But that’s nothing compared to Monday’s weight room accident that befell Johnson. It seems to have strengthened USC’s resolve, but Pete Carroll doesn’t think it makes any difference come kickoff.

“It’s an emotional week, without question, but it won’t carry over to the game,” Carroll said.

“We got to remain focused and keep pushing because Stafon would want us to win,” junior running back Allen Bradford added.

Back at Memorial on Friday afternoon, as the shadows started to creep across the lip of the stadium, USC strength and conditioning coach Chris Carlisle gave one of his weekly history lessons. He talked about David and Goliath, the biblical tale of the giant and the ultimate underdog.

But in a battle of desperate teams, which is which?