The pressure is off embattled Southern Cal coach Lane Kiffin for one week, but he will be right back in the line of fire should his Trojans lose at home to a good Utah State team on Saturday.

USC is a 6.5-point WagerWeb betting favorite. USC bounced back from an embarrassing home loss to Washington State with a 35-7 win over Boston College last Saturday. - Cody Kessler passed for 237 yards and two touchdowns, and Tre Madden became the first Southern California player to open a season with three straight 100-yard rushing games in 32 years. The game was Kessler's first since he was designated USC's first-string quarterback by Kiffin, and the redshirt sophomore responded by completing 14 straight passes after misfiring on his first attempt. Kessler and Max Wittek shared QB duties in USC's first two games and combined to pass for just 54 yards -- the Trojans' lowest single-game total since 1998 -- in a 10-7 setback to the Cougars.

Utah State crushed FCS school Weber State 70-6 last time out. Chuckie Keeton threw for five first-half touchdowns, gaining 249 yards on 19-of-25 passing in the half, to pace Utah State. Joey DeMartino also ran for three touchdowns, two in the first half, for USU (2-1, 1-0 Mountain West Conference), gaining 105 yards on eight carries over three quarters. Keeton tied his personal career record of five touchdown passes in one game with 3:47 to play in the first half, hitting D.J. Tialavea for his second TD reception. Eight different receivers caught a Keeton pass, four different players scoring a touchdown. Keeton currently ranks tied for first in the nation along with Oregon State quarterback Sean Mannion with 12 touchdown passes. Utah State has won 18 of its last 22 games, which is USU's best stretch since going 18-2-1 during the 1960-61 seasons. USU's four losses during its last 22 games have been by a combined 10 points as it lost to Ohio (24-23) in the 2011 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, at No. 22 Wisconsin (16-14) and at BYU (6-3) in 2012, and at Utah (30-26) to open the 2013 season.

Utah State and USC will be meeting for the fifth time in series history this weekend, with USU holding a 4-0 all-time advantage. The first meeting between the two teams was on Sept. 29, 1928 in Los Angeles with the Trojans winning, 40-12. The last time the two teams played one another was on Sept. 16, 1989 in Los Angeles as USC won that game, 66-10. WagerWeb trends: Aggies are 6-0-1 ATS in their last 7 games in September. Aggies are 6-0-1 ATS in their last 7 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game. Aggies are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games following a S.U. win. Trojans are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games overall. Trojans are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games following a S.U. win. Trojans are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning road record. Trojans are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games following a SU win of more than 20 points.
 

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