Texas might have leapfrogged the Trojans in the Bowl Championship Series poll for the time being, but that didn't stop them from winning a share of the 2003 National Championship.
Luckily, the Pac-10 picture is more cut-and-dry than the national scene.
California was the last of the great pretenders to fall in the conference, leaving the two Los Angeles schools to duke it out a la "Mad Max."
This week, the Cardinal hope they can twist the dagger into the unsuspecting Bruins just as they put ASU's season to death on Saturday.
Stanford has quietly mustered a three-game win streak, but the offense has not impressed anyone and ranks near the bottom of the conference with barely 300 yards per game.
Turnovers and protecting the football are two of the team's major strengths, as Stanford has only given the ball away eight times in six games.
Don't expect the Cardinal to enjoy the breaks it had last week. UCLA is the only team in the Pac-10 that is greedier with the football and enters the game with a plus-10 turnover ratio.
The Bruins move on to UA unbeaten.
The Trojans finally saw their shadow in South Bend and now look up at No. 1 Texas. The rope-a-dope approach to college football had worked fine for them so far, but they will need some Mike Tyson-esque first-round knockouts to keep pace with the Longhorns and the Hokies.
After beating three ranked teams earlier in the season with three more to go, the Trojans will have just two more weak opponents.
This week, they tangle with a Washington State team that can put points on the board with the best of them, but will have problems against a top-ranked USC defense.
Between that and Reggie Bush, USC should pump more air into its margin of victory this week with a win.
UA has problems of its own, but this week its problem will be wearing black and orange. Oregon State is a team just off the ranking radar and has not lost to an unranked squad since falling at ASU in September 2004.
The Beavers win again.
Speaking of the Devils, ASU still has to play out the stretch.
Maybe the season isn't over in Tempe, but the one that was advertised is. Guts and defense go a long way to winning football games, and neither the Huskies nor the Devils have either.
A draw won't happen. The Sun Devils improve to .500 at home.
Last week 4-1 Overall 38-12
