COLLEGE FOOTBALL REPORT : WEEKDAY UPDATE : USC : Smith Holds Edge Over ASU

Arizona State, which will play USC Saturday at Tempe, Ariz., is the only team in the Pacific 10 Conference that holds a series edge over the Trojans. The Sun Devils are 5-3 against USC in a series that started in 1978.

But Coach Larry Smith is 6-2 against Arizona State, including a 5-2 record while he coached at Arizona. Twice, in 1982 and 1985, Smith’s Arizona team deprived the Sun Devils of a Rose Bowl bid by beating them in the last game of the regular season. In the 1986 season, when ASU was 10-1-1 and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, its only loss was to Arizona.

USC’s 35-26 loss to Arizona Saturday was its first in a Pac-10 game at the Coliseum in 3 1/2 seasons under Smith. Smith’s USC teams are 17-3-1 at the Coliseum, 12-1-1 in conference games.