The ninth-ranked Oregon Ducks may not be on the gridiron this Saturday, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t Pacific-10 Conference football taking place.
This is the point in the season where the contenders begin to separate themselves from the pretenders.
Granted, the month of October just began, but if teams don’t begin to assert themselves now, it may just be too late to do so later on.

Arizona (3-1, 1-0) at USC

(3-1, 0-1)
You can be sure that Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti and his team will have their eyes fixed on ABC at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Ducks get the luxury of checking out their next opponent from the comforts of their own homes in Eugene.
While Oregon will be focusing its attention on No. 18 USC, the Trojans have much more pertinent problems to worry about.
The Trojans are coming off a 31-21 defeat at the hands of Oregon State — the first time in 33 years that the Beavers had beaten USC. Now the Trojans must find a way to score against an Arizona defense that ranks fourth in the nation in rushing defense, ninth in scoring defense and 20th in total defense.
“This week, we play the best team that we have played so far this year,” USC head coach Paul Hackett said. “This is about the time of the year that we knew we had to pick up our game.”
Arizona, on the other hand, is beginning to believe that it is a legitimate Rose Bowl contender. Last week’s 27-3 shellacking over the defending Pac-10 Champion, the Stanford Cardinal, has only bolstered such thoughts.
“We have improved ourselves markedly from a year ago,” said Arizona head coach Dick Tomey, in regard to last season’s 4-7 record. “USC is a team with pride and ability and I know we will probably face the best USC team that anyone has faced this season.”
USC’s Sultan McCullough missed some of the Oregon State game with a bruised knee but is expected to play. If he does, and the Trojan defense contains Arizona freshman running back Clarence Farmer, then USC will win the game. But it will be close.

California (1-3, 0-1) at Arizona State (3-1, 0-1)
The bad news for Arizona State is that quarterback Ryan Kealy injured his knee in last week’s loss to UCLA and could be done for the year. The even worse news is that Kealy’s back-up, Jeff Krohn, is out with mononucleosis.
But the good news is that third-string quarterback Griffen Goodman gets to pass against a California secondary that was eaten up by a so-so Washington State aerial attack.
Should the Sun Devil receivers begin to click with Goodman, it mean a long day for California. But the Golden Bears’ defensive line, led by Andre Carter, has the ability to rattle Goodman and make the game interesting.

Stanford (2-2, 1-1) at

Notre Dame (2-2)
Stanford gets the opportunity to rebound from last week’s blowout loss to Arizona, step up on the national stage and prove it’s still for real. The Cardinal will play in front of a Notre Dame Stadium crowd of 80,000-plus people, as well as an NBC television audience.
Besides the crowd and the viewing audience, Stanford’s back-up freshman quarterback Chris Lewis may find it a bit too daunting to play with Touchdown Jesus looking on.

Boise State (3-1) at

Washington State (2-2, 1-1)
In the “Who cares?” game of the week, the Cougars look to keep the momentum going from last week’s 21-17 victory over California. Boise State and Washington State also played against each other in 1997 and ’98, with the Cougars winning both of those games with a combined score of 91-21.
However, Cougar head coach Mike Price is cautious.
“They are real good,” Price said. “They are probably better than Cal.”
Not sure if he meant that as a compliment.