This is pretty much it for Mike Stoops. The Arizona Wildcats are on the edge of 1-4, and the ledge might as well jump for Stoops before he takes the plunge. A loss to the USC Trojans would put them in great shape for a four-to-five win season, and the end for a fanbase impatient with Stoops's lack of tangible success. Arizona has not won a meaningful football game in over a year, and "six seconds from the Rose Bowl" seems like ages ago.
USC is coming off a pretty ugly loss in the desert, so you'd figure they'd be motivated to go into their bye week by shattering a fragile Wildcats defensive front. Matt Barkley must be thinking 20 to 25 more looks above his 20-25 looks toward Robert Woods, because the Trojans would love to get their offense well-slicked before the bulk of their Pac-12 slate opens up. Stoops better hope Nick Foles is equal to the task of taking out USC's talented but still error-prone pass defense, because it's pretty much going to be his victory if Arizona pulls it out.
BONUS WSU-Colorado thoughts: WSU has played well, but padded their schedule with cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes. Colorado is still a Section Eight away from Boulder, but is perfectly capable playing up in the football heavens. Neither of these teams have the sleeper potential UW and Utah have in their divisions, but this game could tell whether either has a shot at bowl eligibility--it's hard to see either team playing an easier opponent on their schedule, unless Oregon State remains as putrid-tastic as they've been all season.