Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum at 6 p.m. on ESPN and Watch ESPN
Bear to Watch: Sophomore QB Jared Goff
Goff suffered through a trial by fire last season as the true freshman starter on a bad team, but he has emerged as one of the Pac-12's best quarterbacks in year two under Sonny Dykes. He averages 346.6 passing yards per game which ranks second in the conference and fourth nationally. He is efficient too. The pocket passer has delivered 27 touchdown passes to only four interceptions completing 62.6% of his passes. He will challenge the Trojans' secondary vertically having already hit on 15 pass plays of 40+ yards, which is the most in the Pac-12 and second nationally.Click here for more on the Bears.
3 Keys
Safety First
The Trojans could be without freshman safety John Plattenburg, who is dealing with a thigh bruise, which leaves them thin at the back of the defense. Leon McQuay and Gerald Bowman, who have both been banged up recently, will start, and Matt Lopes is at the ready again. Whoever lines up at safety, they must be ready for a challenging night as Goff and a talented group of wide receivers look to exploit every inch of the field.
Aim High
Cal averages 41.9 points per game, but they have lost four times because the Bears give up 39.9 points per contest, which ranks dead last in the Pac-12. The root of the problem is Cal's pass defense, which yields 376.4 yards per game (also last in the conference). The Trojans have been bloodthirsty in the passing game recently with Cody Kessler tossing 14 touchdowns in his last three games. The junior quarterback is only 14 TDs shy of the school and Pac-12 record, and he could cut into that deficit significantly on Thursday night.
November to Remember
The Trojans have already had a successful November with a win at Washington State and a bye week to recharge for the finishing kick. USC has three season-defining rivalry games lined up starting with Cal. While the Bears don't spark the same fervor as UCLA and Notre Dame, the Trojans cannot even conceive of looking past Cal in the 102nd meeting of the two venerable programs. The upstart Bears have been close to pulling off upsets over UCLA and Arizona, so the Trojans must take a dangerous opponent seriously.
