> The Utes (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) host No. 13/12 USC (3-1, 1-1 Pac-12 on Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. MDT in Rice-Eccles Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN. Radio is ESPN700 AM (espn700sports.com) and SIRIUS/XM (85).

> Both Utah and USC are coming off bye weeks.

> The game is sold out with the exception of standing room tickets that are available only to University of Utah students.

Utah (2-2) vs. No. 12 USC (3-1)

Game Notes

• Utah (2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) vs. No. 13/12 USC (3-1, 1-1 Pac-12)
• Date: Thursday, Oct. 4
• Time: 7:00 p.m. MDT
• Site: Rice-Eccles Stadium (45,017)
• TV: ESPN
• Radio: ESPN700, SIRIUS/XM 85, Sports USA
• Series Record: USC leads 7-3
• Last Meeting: 2011 (USC 23-14)
• Kickoff Weather: Partly cloudy, temps in the low 60s

Series Snapshot
USC's 7-3 series lead includes a 1-1 mark in Salt Lake City, where the two teams last squared off 95 years ago. The last time the Trojans came to town, they beat Utah 51-0 in 1917. They have played twice in bowl games: the 1993 Freedom Bowl, won by USC 28-21, and the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl, won by Utah 10-6.Last Time
USC 23, Utah 14
Sept. 10, 2011, Los Angeles
Trailing USC 17-14 with 11 seconds left in regulation, Utah had a chance to send the fi rst Pac-12 game into overtime, but Coleman Petersen's 41-yard fi eld goal attempt was blocked and returned for a touchdown and Utah lost 23-14. Led by Chaz Walker (11 tackles), Matt Martinez (10 tackles, 1 sack) and Ryan Lacy (7 tackles, an interception and a pass breakup), Utah's defense was stellar, forcing three Trojan turnovers, two that led to Ute touchdowns. DeVonte Christopher had 136 receiving yards and a touchdown.

>Kyle Whittingham is 8-8 as a head coach against teams ranked in the A.P. Top 25 and 1-0 this season (vs. then No. 25 Brigham Young on Sept. 15).

> Utah and USC have not played in Salt Lake City in 95 years. The Trojans last came to town in 1917, when they beat Utah 51-0.

> A year ago, Utah lost to USC in its Pac-12 debut, 23-14 in the Coliseum. Trailing 17-14 with 11 seconds left in regulation, Utah had a chance to send the game into overtime, but Coleman Petersen's 41-yard field goal attempt was blocked and returned for a touchdown. More on the series on page 2.

> Whittingham is 6-1 coming off regular-season byes, with his only loss coming last season against Washington. Whittingham's post-bye victories came over Wyoming (2005, 2007), Colorado State (2006, 2009), New Mexico (2008) and Iowa State (2010).

> Utah's record in Thursday games is 53-25-5 and the Utes have won eight straight since losing on a Thursday at Oregon State in 2007. The Trojans are 22-10-3 all-time in Thursday games.

> USC has claimed 11 national championships, while Utah's best national finish was No. 2 (A.P.) in 2008. The Utes finished No. 4 in the A.P. poll in 2004.

> Utah has made 10 bowl appearances since 2000, going 9-1 with a 2-0 record in BCS bowl games. Utah is one of just three teams to win six bowl games in the last seven years (with Florida and TCU).

IN THE HUDDLE

Utah's defense was down two starters to injury in its last game (a loss at ASU): free safety Eric Rowe and defensive end Joe Kruger. Both are expected back for the USC game ... Making his first start as a Ute vs. ASU was sophomore linebacker Jacoby Hale. Hale and Victor Spikes, who got his first action of the season against ASU, are the new co-starters at rover ... Moving up to second on the running back depth chart after a career game against ASU is junior college transfer Kelvin York ... Redshirt freshman Siaosi Aiono, who played in his first game as a Ute against ASU after an injury to starter Vyncent Jones, will start this week at right guard ... V.J. Fehoko is now in the three deep at both stud linebacker and left end ... Reggie Topps replaces Moe Lee as one starting corner. Ryan Lacy holds down the other corner spot ... Two true freshmen have played for Utah this season: quarterback Travis Wilson and OL Jeremiah Poutasi. ### TWO-MINUTE DRILL

Utah is ranked fourth in the Pac-12 and 27th in the nation in rushing defense (111.25). The Utes are ranked third in the conference in pass defense (218.25) and fourth in total defense (329.5). For complete Utah rankings, see sidebar on page 3 ... Utah's best quarter on both sides of the ball is the third, when the Utes have scored 34 points while allowing just three ... Utah and its opponents are both converting on 31% of their third down attempts and both have 11 sacks ... Dating back to last season, Utah is 9-0 when John White rushes for 100 yards ... 16 players have caught passes for Utah this season ... Utah has earned one Pac-12 Player of the Week honor this fall: freshman punter Tom Hackett (playing in his first American football game) on Sept. 15 against BYU. ### OUTSIDE THE LINES

The Salt Lake City Air National Guard KC-135 will do a flyover in "Utah Man II" prior to the national anthem ... Utah's ski team will be honored at a quarter break for its second-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Championships ... Jordan Wynn has been invited by ESPN to participate in two studio shows in Charlotte, N.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 9. Wynn will do a segment on College Football Daily at 1 p.m. ET (11 a.m. MT) and will be a guest analyst on The Experts at 2:30 ET (12:30 MT) with Andre Ware, Mike Bellotti, Mark Schlabach and Tom Luginbill. Both shows will be live on ESPNU ... With the USC game already sold out, the Utes have sold out 15-straight games in Rice-Eccles Stadium, including every game since 2010 ... Utah's all-time record after byes (excluding bowls) is 94-37-6 and 77-23-6 in home games. The Utes are 27-8-1 (22-2-1 at home) in October games played after a bye. ### UTE-TWEETS

Utah is 10-9 in games televised by ESPN #utes ... Utah is 6-5 (3-5 at home) in games played on Oct. 4. This is Utah's first Oct. 4 game in 27 years #utes ... Whittingham is 8-9 all-time vs. Pac-12 schools (4-6 as a member of the Pac-12) #utes ... Utah's 89 wins in the last 10 years ranks 12th in the nation, while USC is third with 101 #utes ... The Kyle Whittingham Coach's Show is Tuesday at 6 pm at Harmon's City Creek. It is free to the public. Quotes from Kyle Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference

Opening statement:
Not a lot to talk about seeing as we did not have a game last week. We had a good bye week. In the bye week you want to accomplish two things. Get your players rested up a little bit and get some bumps and bruises healed up and at the same time work on your deficiencies. It's a balance of down time vs. on field time and I think we did a good job with that. We got a lot accomplished. Now we're back in game week mode. We're looking forward to the contest on Thursday.

Injury update:
Joe Kruger is still questionable. We don't get into details, but we hope to have Joe. We definitely will have Eric Rowe, so that's a positive for us.

On the offensive line and Siaosi Aiono scheduled to make his first start:
Guys going down. Sam Brenner moved to left tackle, so that's one guard down. Vyncent Jones and Latu Heimuli will both unavailable this week. The next guy up is Siaosi. He'll get about 70 snaps this week so he'll quadruple his output. He's the next best guy. We are confident in Siaosi. We have a freshman right tackle and a freshman right guard, so they have to step up and be ready to go.

On Jacoby Hale and Victor Spikes on the depth chart:
They both run so well and have both improved over the last 3-to-4 weeks. Jacoby played a pretty good football game against Arizona State. He got a lot of time against Arizona State, as did Victor. They both warranted putting more reps into them. They're both going to be playing this week and hopefully that will make us a better defense.

On USC:
They are so explosive. That's the thing that really jumps out. Between Woods and Lee you've got a receiving corps that is as good as any in the country. The backs are good and do a nice job for them, especially the transfer from Penn State. They work hard not to be one-dimensional. They are very committed to running the ball as well as throwing it and they don't want to just become a one-dimensional team and they do a good job of play-calling towards that end. Every single week our first objective is to try to control the run game, and that will be no different this week.

On last year's game against USC and playing at home this year:
I think it helps, having some familiarity with their program and their players, and most of the guys we are playing this year were in that game. I think that can be looked upon as a positive. Each year is its own separate entity and own set of circumstances, but going down there and having a good showing last year, although we came up short, could be a positive for us.

On Matt Barkley:
He's very consistent. The Stanford game is a game that he would want to have back. Some of the decisions he made are not typical Matt Barkley decisions. He is a tremendous player. He's a talented kid and he's one of the best in the country and it was the same thing last year. We saw the same thing out of him last year.

He's surrounded by such great players. He's great in and of himself, but you surround him with the great wide receivers, the backs, the tight ends. Plus they've got a very good offensive front to protect him and get the run game underway. He's just a great player. The thing that really impresses me is the quickness with which he gets the ball out of his hands. He's tough to sack. In fact, he can be unblocked, and more often than not he's going to get the ball out of his hands before you can get there. That's a quality they really put a premium on at the next level.

On the run game:
We're hoping [John White's fumbles against ASU] was a fluke. That's my take on it. He's been a very reliable ball carrier. He doesn't fumble in games and he doesn't fumble in practice. We're going to chalk that up to one bad night, and hopefully he'll bounce back and be ready to go this week.

We had high hopes for Kelvin York when we recruited him. He had a good spring and we think that he's going to be a guy who gets better from week-to-week. We need that to happen. He's a very talented kid and we saw signs of that against Arizona State. If he can pick up this game where he left off that will help us a great deal.

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