The second-ranked Trojans (4-0, 2-0) will look to rebound from a poor (but victorious) performance against Washington by hosting the Stanford Cardinal (1-3, 0-3) at the Coliseum on Saturday. The Cardinal, guided by first-year coach Jim Harbaugh, have been defeated by all three ranked teams they have faced this season, beating only the San Jose State Spartans. Oddly, Saturday will be Stanford’s first road contest of the season.

In last year’s matchup, USC rebounded from a poor performance the prior week in a loss to Oregon State with a dominating performance against the Cardinal, shutting them out 42-0. The last time the Cardinal played the Trojans close was in 2004, when Stanford took a lead into halftime but ultimately fell to the Trojans, 31-28. Stanford is actually the last team to defeat USC at the Coliseum, although that occurred in 2001.

Here is USC’s official injury report, as of Sunday night:

• PROBABLE: LB Brian Cushing (ankle), LB Clay Matthews (shoulder), OT Butch Lewis (ankle), TE Jimmy Miller (back).
• POSSIBLE: OG Chilo Rachal (ankle), TB Stafon Johnson (foot), OG Alatini Malu (thigh), CB Cary Harris (shoulder), CB Shareece Wright (hamstring), TB C.J. Gable (groin), C Kristofer O’Dowd (kneecap)
• OUT: LB Chris Galippo (back), S-CB Josh Pinkard (knee), OG-C Nick Howell (hernia), TB Broderick Green (foot), CB Kevin Thomas (shoulder), OT Martin Coleman (shoulder), DE Trey Henderson (knee), WR Damian Williams (shoulder).

More should be known about the status of several injured players (including Stafon Johnson) later today.

Saturday’s game will start at 4:00p and be televised nationally by Versus. (If you actually receive the cable network, that is.) The Trojans are currently favored by 37.5 points.

TrojanUpdate’s Game Preview
Official game week press release (Official USC site)
Purchase tickets at StubHub