- USC needs all hands on deck to beat the Huskies. Here is the latest injury report, per head coach Clay Helton: DT Stevie Tu'ikolovatu (knee - moved around after PRP injection), CB Iman Marshall (hamstring - likely to play), CB Jonathan Lockett (hip - doubtful), OG Damien Mama (knee - should practice tomorrow), RB Justin Davis (ankle - no pain) and RB Aca'Cedric Ware (ankle - no pain).
- Helton called Tu'ikolovatu "a warrior" who vowed to his head coach that he would play in this game despite reaggravating an old knee injury. If he cannot go or is on a limited play count, expect to see more from Josh Fatu and Jacob Daniel, both of whom Helton praised after practice.
- Washington's offense differs from USC's recent opponents in that the Huskies are balanced, so it is harder for the Trojans to game plan against stopping one strength like Oregon's rushing attack or Cal's passing game. Also, UW plays at a much slower tempo than Arizona, Cal and Oregon, so the Trojans will have to be efficient offensively with their possessions because they likely will not get as many in this game.
- The Huskies average 231 yards on the ground each game (No. 1 in the Pac-12) and 268 yards through the air (No. 4 in the Pac-12). "I think it's 50/50, it's balanced," said S Chris Hawkins. "Their running game is superb right now but also when you've got 25 touchdowns between two receivers, you can't ignore the pass game either."
- In terms of style, UW will look a lot more like USC on offense than the spread teams that the Trojans faced in October. "This is the first pro-style offense we've faced in a few weeks," said LB Michael Hutchings. "We've been seeing all this uptempo, 80-100 plays a game, and they average about 65 plays. They just execute their offense well. Not trying to out tempo you, get you out of place, they just line up and execute what they do."
- So, how do the Trojans handle the menu of options at Chris Petersen's disposal? "Our eyes tell us the story, so once we see something, we've got to believe it," said Hawkins. "But we also have to be safe with it because they do have big play-action shots. They throw to John Ross deep on play-action shots. They throw overs. Then they've always got a trick play or two every game. Our eyes are going to tell the story this week."
- John Ross leads the conference with 14 touchdown catches. "Electrifying player," said CB Adoree' Jackson about Ross. "He does a lot of things well, especially when he gets the ball in his hands. He's one of those guys where he can stop on a dime, he can run nice routes. And that's pretty much what is on film, you just see a good player out there."
- On the other side, Dante Pettis is second in the Pac-12 with 11 TD grabs. "Every week I'm always looking forward to the competition," said Jackson. "That's pretty much how I go about myself. It wouldn't be me or up to my standard if I didn't want to go against anybody."
- Here is Helton's entire Wednesday press conference as we inch towards Saturday:
