Who: Arizona State at USC
Where: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
When: 5:45 p.m. PT on FOX
Series: USC leads 19-12 all-time
Last meeting: Trojans won 42-14 on Sept. 26, 2015 in Tempe
Quite a bit has changed since ASU football last met USC at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: Jaelen Strong and Hayes Pullard now play on Sundays, and the NFL’s Rams returned to Southern California after a decade in St. Louis.
Regardless of whether or not it's mutual, ASU has certainly played against the Los Angeles schools with a chip on its shoulder, bringing a competitive edge against its Pac-12 South divisional rivals under head coach Todd Graham.
ASU has 32 players from California on its roster, including several from Southern California. While only one – redshirt freshman tight end JD Alexander – is from Los Angeles proper, four are from nearby Rancho Cucamonga: twin brothers Vilami Latu and Alani Latu, sophomore linebacker Khaylan Thomas and freshman offensive lineman Cohl Cabral.
Freshman wide receiver N'Keal Harry, a product of Chandler High School, said that the trip to Southern California will evoke a friendly rivalry between the Grand Canyon and Golden State.
"I can feel it already," Harry said. "There's a little bit of animosity. Everybody's excited for this game. Everybody's just ready to get on the road and play. We're just hoping we can go out there and show them what we can do."
As the featured big-play threat in ASU's offense, Harry could see 1-on-1 action with USC junior defensive back Adoree' Jackson, who is also a versatile weapon on special teams.
"I just use my size, use my demeanor," Harry said. "I've got to be physical and make sure I'm running clean routes and doing everything I need to do to get past him."
In games against USC and UCLA since Graham arrived in 2012, The Sun Devils (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) are 4-4.
Prior to beating Cal on Sept. 29, 2012, ASU lost seven straight Pac-12 games in the state of California and was 3-23 from 1998 to 2011 before Graham joined the program.
ASU endured a decade of dominance during Pete Carroll’s dynasty era, losing nine in a row from 2000 to 2010, excluding a USC win vacated in 2005 due to NCAA sanctions.
While the Trojans (1-3, 0-2 Pac-12) have cycled through Lane Kiffin, Ed Orgeron, Steve Sarkisian, and newly-promoted head coach Clay Helton, Graham has his program on the uptick.
USC hasn’t started 1-3 since 2001, when it went on to finish 6-6 and lost to Utah (then a member of the Mountain West Conference) 10-6 in the Las Vegas Bowl.
“Obviously (USC) got beat pretty badly by Alabama,” Graham said. “Stanford was fairly close, and Utah was a very close game. They turned the ball over and kind of hurt themselves, but they’re just as talented as any team we’ll play.”
But make no mistake – the Trojans are talented.
“This is probably the most talented (team), physically and speed wise, that we’re going to play against,” Graham said. “So their record is not indicative of what type of team they are.”
USC and ASU both endured preseason quarterback battles – but while redshirt sophomore Manny Wilkins has prospered for the Sun Devils, redshirt junior Max Browne is out and redshirt freshman Sam Darnold is in for the Trojans.
“I told Max (Browne) the other day, my greatest dream was to be 3–0 right now and him leading this team,” head coach Clay Helton told Annenberg Media last week. “But then you have to face reality and you have to make hard decisions.”
Because ASU’s first and second team defenses have faced both redshirt freshman Brady White and freshman Dillon Sterling-Cole in practice, there likely won’t be a drastic adjustment to the game plan, even with the change under center.
“Sam Darnold is very good, as well as very athletic,” Graham said. “Sam and Max can both run and throw the deep ball very well. They’re similar, the difference is Sam Darnold’s athleticism.”
An ASU win would be the third straight Sun Devil victory in a Pac-12 road opener and the fourth win in Los Angeles in the last four seasons.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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