Opportunity To Make A Statement Comes Again vs Stanford

USC find themselves in another big game this Saturday. This Saturday, the Trojans make their way to Palo Alto, California for a clash with the defending Pac-12 Champs, the Stanford Cardinal. This game with Stanford is the beginning of the road towards their goal to win the Pac-12. The Trojans once again will once again look to make a statement against a top 10 team, but once again will have their hands full.

Last week USC came away with the 45-7 victory over Utah St, which provided a pretty good confidence booster before their huge conference opener on the road. While Stanford isn’t as loaded as Alabama, they still possess a physical style which is an identity that USC is still working to reach but apparently struggling with. Stanford also has a running back named Christian McCaffrey, who torched the Trojans for 461 all-purpose yards in last season’s Pac-12 Championship game. So things couldn’t get any more challenging for the Trojans right?

While USC has still has their questions surrounding the team and are significant underdogs, A victory over the 7th ranked Cardinal would be a pretty big statement. If USC pulls off the upset on the road, it could give them some pretty good momentum going into a pretty favorable stretch of their schedule. It’ll also rinse off some of that disaster against Alabama week one (Well not really, but you get the point.). The last few years these games have down to the wire and last time USC came to Stanford, they walked out with a 3 point victory, So historically it’s not a daunting task for the Trojans.

The opportunity is staring the Trojans right in the face again, but will the result be different? USC stressed that the Alabama game won’t define who they are and that’s true, but the Stanford game will dictate who they are. A poor performance will raise even more eyebrows about a very talented Trojans team. A win could do a lot for USC going forward in the Pac-12, but they’ll have to take the opportunity when given to them. Saturday USC will either make a very bold statement or disappoint and create even more questions.