SALT LAKE CITY — This was Utah’s dream when the football program started Pac-12 play 8 years ago, the chance to beat traditional power USC with major implications on the line in the South division.

Come Saturday night at Rice-Eccles Stadium, the Utes will either control their own fate over the final five weeks or most likely again fail to represent the South in the Pac-12 championship.

With a win and Colorado losing to Washington, the Utes could be no worse than tied atop the division with a 3-2 conference record. In this scenario, Utah would hold the tiebreaker over USC with a game against Colorado coming next month.

“To me, the winner of this game is going to win the Pac-12 South,” said Norm Chow, a former offensive coordinator at USC and Utah, in an interview on 97.5-FM and 1280 AM The Zone. “I think it’s the Pac-12 championship game.”

A win puts USC, the preseason favorite, in great position to capture its fourth division title. The Trojans close the conference season against Arizona State, Oregon State, Cal and UCLA — which are a combined 8-16. Utah’s schedule is much tougher with UCLA, Arizona State, Oregon and Colorado.

Call it the battle of the behemoth vs. the deviled.

The standard bearer in the West, USC has won 39 conference championships and 11 national titles. Since the expansion, the Trojans have won the South three times compared to none for Utah.

Not that the Utes haven’t been close. Two years ago, they were 5-2 but finished losing to Oregon and Colorado. It was even more tormenting in 2015, when Utah started 5-1 but lost 2 of the next three games.

Maybe this year October will be more kind that prior Novembers. But until the Utes prove they can win conference games in high-pressure situations, demons remain — at least among the fan base.

Three weeks ago, after starting conference play losing to Washington and Washington State, it didn’t even seem possible that Utah would be in contention. But the offense, which had been wildly inconsistent, has clicked in comfortable wins over Stanford and Arizona.

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It was two weeks ago where a small rumbling of Utah fans wanted a change at quarterback.

Coach Kyle Whittingham attributed the recent success to improved play by the offensive line and receivers. Finally, the pass catchers did just that.

“Receivers are making plays,” Whittingham said. “We had zero drops in the last game and very few, if any, in the game before. We went through the period where we were dropping a lot of balls.”

Overall, the same can be said for USC, which lost to Stanford and Texas last month. Since the two consecutive losses, the Trojans have won three straight, including last week against previously unbeaten Colorado.

Chow, who still lives in the Los Angeles area, thinks Utah’s defense will have an advantage against USC’s offensive line.

“USC came out slow, but once they got going they’re pretty good,” Chow said. “I still think Utah can get them.”

In addition to battle along the line of scrimmage, Utah’s pass defense will face a stiff challenge. Against Washington State and Stanford, the Utes allowed 445 yards and 381 yards, respectively.

Freshman quarterback JT Daniels has a plethora of receivers at his disposal, including former high school teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown. Whittingham listed several receivers as downfield threats.

“They’re all playmakers” he said. “When the ball is down the field they do a great job of making plays even when they’re covered. To me, for our defense anyway, the biggest factor in the game is whether or not we can make those plays in the back end - that will be a great challenge for our secondary.

“We feel pretty good about our secondary. The strength of their team, at least offensively is that receiving corps.”

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