USC’s first four conference games are against Stanford, ASU, CU, and Arizona. They will likely be 6-0 and ranked in the top 5 at that point. Then they play Notre Dame in South Bend followed by Utah, Cal, UW, Oregon, and UCLA. They may end up 9-3 or even 8-4.
If they’re not 6-0 by the time they play Notre Dame, then they’re going to have some major trouble. It’s only one game and they could certainly get better, but what I saw last night was eerily reminiscent of last year’s team. That’s usually not a good sign.