The injuries just keep on coming for the ASU football team.

The Sun Devil receiving corps suffered another blow in its loss to California on Saturday when sophomore T.J. Simpson, who had been seeing increased playing time in recent weeks, left the game with a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss about a month, ASU coach Dennis Erickson said.

Sophomore wide receiver Gerell Robinson was also hobbled by a leg injury against Cal, while junior Kerry Taylor and senior Kyle Williams are both still coming off recent hamstring injuries.

Despite the health woes, Erickson said the Sun Devils (4-4, 2-3 Pac-10) are “going to be OK” when it comes to having enough receivers ready for this Saturday’s contest with USC.

Should ASU remain thin at wide receiver, though, it could turn to more formations with senior quarterback Danny Sullivan under center and two tight ends, which the Sun Devils had success with in the latter stages of the Cal game.

“Our front’s blocking the run pretty well right now, so we’ve got to try to find a way to take advantage of that,” Erickson said. “Being involved in a little more two-tight end [sets] can do that for us.”

Adding to the growing list of players on the shelf is senior running back Dimitri Nance, who re-injured his shoulder on the first drive against Cal.

That opened the door for freshman Cameron Marshall, who finished with 16 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown. Erickson said Marshall will start this weekend against Cal if Nance is unable to play.

“It’s a matter of opportunities and what you do with opportunities when you’re a young player like that,” Erickson said. “[Marshall’s] a hard runner, he’s big, he’s physical, he’s got good speed and protected very well. Whether he starts or whether he doesn’t, he’ll play quite a bit more.”

Another player that could also weave his way into more game action is sophomore quarterback Samson Szakacsy, who recorded his first pass attempt, completion and touchdown on the same play in the second quarter when he was inserted into the game inside the Cal 5-yard line and found senior tight end Jovon Williams in the end zone on the first play of the drive.

“If his arm was totally healthy, it’d be different, because he gives you a little bit of a different dimension,” Erickson said. “But [the arm strength is] not there, so we’ve just got to kind of pick and choose what we do with him. We’ll continue to use him in a limited basis — goal-line [and] short-yardage [situations] — [and we’ll] do some option stuff with him and try to take advantage of his athletic ability.”

Erickson said the team was “down a little bit” when it met Sunday to study the game film, but it doesn’t have time to dwell on the 23-21 loss to the Golden Bears when No. 12 USC is coming into Sun Devil Stadium this weekend.

“You almost would rather lose a game badly than lose one like that,” Erickson said. “It’s just a tough feeling that we’re dealing with. We know we’re a pretty good football team, but we’ve got to get over that hump. We’ve got to win a game like that, which we did against Washington, but we’ve got to win more than one. “

And if ASU wants to beat USC for the first time since 1999, it will have to start faster. The Sun Devil offense fell behind by at least 14 points before scoring its first touchdown for the second consecutive week against Cal and currently ranks seventh or lower in the conference in every major offensive category.

“We’re just not consistent, [and] we’re digging ourselves in a hole to start the game,” Sullivan said. “We’re leaving ourselves in tougher third-down situations — third-and-nine to 11. That’s hard. We do fine when we get in manageable third downs, but we haven’t been doing that.

We’re going down 14-0, we can’t be doing that anymore, and that lies on my shoulders.”

But one aspect of the offense that has seen a vast improvement is the pass protection. The Sun Devils have surrendered just 13 sacks so far this season, compared to 55 in 2007 and 34 in 2008.

“We’re a little older [and] a little wiser,” Erickson said. “And then really, Danny’s getting rid of the football. We’re still young, but we’re getting better all the time in giving the quarterback some time.”

The Sun Devils also continue to rank first in the Pac-10 in total defense (296 yards per game) and rushing defense (80.1 yards per game), which is also good for fourth in the nation. ASU bounced back after allowing 125 yards to Stanford senior running back Toby Gerhart by limiting Cal junior Jahvid Best to just 61 yards on the ground.

“We did a good job on Best, who’s a great back,” Erickson said. “Of course, USC’s got two or three of them like that. We played better, and we’ll have to play good against the run this week because that’s what [USC likes] to do.”

But one Achilles’ heel for the ASU defense has been in the secondary.

Cal junior quarterback Kevin Riley threw for 351 yards on Saturday, and the ASU defense allowed him to make numerous big plays with his arm on the Golden Bears’ game-winning drive.

“We’ve got to make some adjustments, there’s no question about it, as far as our pass defense is concerned,” Erickson said. “[Defensive coordinator Craig] Bray and the defensive staff are looking at that very hard right now.”

Reach the reporter at gina.mizell@asu.edu.