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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - USC will face UCLA at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Saturday in a matchup of four-loss football teams that have combined to lose six of their last seven games.
The Trojans (7-4, 5-3 in Pac-12 Conference play) have lost four of five games after starting the season 6-0. However, only one of those victories came over a team with a winning record entering Saturday's play, Arizona.
The Bruins (6-4, 3-4) have lost their last two games. Only one of their victories was over a Football Bowl Subdivision team with a winning record, Coastal Carolina.
USC is a five- to 6 1/2-point favorite, depending on the oddsmaker. ESPN's Football Power Index gives the Trojans a 75.2% chance of winning.
Poor defense has been the key reason for USC's skid. The Trojans have allowed more than 40 points in five of the past seven games. They are allowing 34.6 points per game for the season, 122nd among the 133 FBS teams.
USC coach Lincoln Riley announced the firing of defensive coordinator Alex Grinch Nov. 5 and that defensive line coach Shaun Nua and inside linebackers coach/associate head coach for defense Brian Odom would serve as interim co-defensive coordinators for the remainder of the season.
Riley said he has spent more time with the defense following Grinch's firing to "help them where I can and give them perspective."
"I want to provide as much support to those guys that I can," Riley said.
UCLA's struggles have come on offense, scoring 10 points or less three times, including each of the past two games. The Bruins are averaging 26.4 points per game, 71st among FBS teams.
"I think there is no facet to the offense that was working properly," Bruins guard Josh Carlin said after last Saturday's 17-7 loss to Arizona State in a game the Football Power Index gave UCLA a 90.1% chance of winning. The Bruins were 14-point favorites, according to ESPN Bet.
UCLA's strength has been on defense, leading the conference in yards per play allowed (4.39); rushing defense (70.8 yards); quarterback sacks (3.6 per game); tackles for loss (8.4 per game); touchdowns allowed (15); and yards per rush allowed (2.32).
The Trojans are third among FBS teams in scoring, averaging 43.8 points.
USC leads the series to 50-33-7, not including victories in 2004 and 2005 that were vacated as part of the penalties issued by the NCAA for improper benefits accepted by star running back Reggie Bush and his family.
The Trojans won 48-45 last season at the Rose Bowl as Caleb Williams threw for a career-high 470 yards and had a school-record 503 yards of total offense as USC overcame a 14-0 first-quarter deficit.
Williams threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third score.
Rush end Korey Foreman sealed the victory by intercepting a pass by Dorian Thompson-Robinson at the 50-yard line with one minute, 26 seconds to play. The takeaway was the Trojans' fourth, all on plays by Thompson-Robinson, now the Cleveland Browns' third-string quarterback.
"Last year was obviously a lot of fun, and I'm sure this will be a barnburner as well," Riley said.
UCLA won the 2021 game at the Coliseum, 62-33, and are seeking back-to- back victories in the Coliseum for the first time since winning four straight from 1991-97.
The winner will get possession of the Victory Bell, a 295-pound bell that originally hung atop a Southern Pacific freight locomotive and was given to the UCLA Alumni Association in 1939. In 1941, it was taken by a group of USC students who hid it in a variety of locations for more than a year.
Following an intervention by school administrators, the student body presidents of both schools signed an agreement in 1942 providing that the winner of the football game would keep possession for the next year, a tradition that has continued, along with painting the bell's carriage in the school color of the winner.
Former Trojan receiving star JuJu Smith-Schuster will lead the team out of the tunnel.
The 12:30 p.m. game is sold out. It will be televised by ABC.