Cougars talk tough matchup with No. 6 USC in marquee Pac-12 showdown

Washington State has its biggest challenge -- but also biggest opportunity -- of the season this Saturday as it faces the No. 6-ranked USC Trojans in Los Angeles, having a chance to defeat a top-10 road opponent for the first time since 2003.

The Cougars (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) picked up their first conference win of the season with a 28-9 win over Cal last week, delivering a defensive show-out while shutting down the Golden Bears’ usually reliable rushing attack and dominating on all sides of the ball.

USC (5-0, 3-0) poses a much more balanced, dynamic offensive threat, as new coach Lincoln Riley has assembled a star-studded roster led by Heisman Trophy candidaate Caleb Williams at quarterback (who followed him from Oklahoma), redshirt senior running back Travis Dye (a transfer from Oregon) and a loaded receiving corps led by reigning Biletnikoff Award winner Jordan Addison (a transfer from Pitt).

The Trojans are 10th in scoring at 42.2 points per game and 19th in total offense at 480.4 yards per game, but that's skewed by a Week 4 outlier against Oregon State, when they won 17-14 with just 357 yards of offense. The Trojans have averaged 511.3 yards in their other four wins.

USC opened up as a 13-point favorite against WSU. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. PST from LA Memorial Coliseum and the game can be viewed on FOX.

Let's cover some key news and notes ahead of the showdown ...

Cougars coach Jake Dickert said Monday he is “very confident” that strong safety Jordan Lee, who has missed the past three games due to injury, will play this Saturday against the Trojans and return to the field for the first time since Wisconsin.

The Cougars look to be 100 percent healthy for a primetime matchup for the first time since this season start, with no other members of the roster currently on the injury designation.

Unfortunately, wide receiver Zeriah Benson is no longer with the WSU program after eligibility issues kept him off the field throughout training camp and the beginning part of the regular season.

The defense will have the biggest challenge of the season, facing one of the best offensive units in the country in USC and its aforementioned stars.

Dickert talked about Caleb Williams and his ability to scramble to find someone downfield or gain positive yards himself.

“The more I study [Caleb Williams], he might be the best running back in the country,” Dickert said. “You can’t tackle this guy.”

Dickert said the reason Oregon State limited USC so much on offense two weeks ago was because of the lack of explosive plays offensively for the Trojans, which WSU could not stop against Oregon but will have to against USC.

“[OSU] did a good job of containing [Williams],” Dickert said.

WSU may not be familiar with Williams or Addison, but the Cougars are definitely familiar with Dye, who was at Oregon last year and ran through the Cougars defense, collecting 88 yards on 18 carries in the teams' 2021 meeting.

“[Dye] is one of those old school great players,” Dickert said. “He could be looking at you and he’s gonna cut this way.”

Defensive lineman Nusi Malani talked about the offensive line for the Trojans being able to get protection for Caleb Williams throughout the first half of the season.

“Their O-line, especially their three interior, is really good,” Malani said. “This can be a technique game and a tough game inside.”

he offensive attack for the Cougars will be one of the more intriguing aspects of the game, being able to respond to either a USC score or capitalize when the Trojans don’t score and trying to drive on the defense.

The Trojans are allowing 19.6 points a game, one of the lowest in the conference, despite giving up 28 to Stanford and 25 to Arizona State just last week.

Wide receiver De’Zhaun Stribling said the pass coverage for USC is nothing he hasn’t seen before this season.

“They just got some real good players,” Stribling said. “They have some athletes on their team.”

Offensively, the Cougars hope to come out strong against a USC offense that will give them all they can handle on Saturday.