pted on its final drive near West Virginias end zone.RB

SAN FRANCISCO -- Stanford as a comfortable favorite against Southern California doesnt even seem weird anymore. These days it is more notable when the Trojans beat the Cardinal than the other way around.No school has won more Pac-12 football championships than USC (38, more than double second place), but Stanford has won three of the last four titles. Right now the Cardinal are the conferences standard-bearer and the Trojans are trying to chase them down.USC (1-1) enters Saturdays game on the Farm as a nine-point underdog to the seventh-ranked Cardinal (1-0), looking for an upset to lift the program out of a malaise and bring some positive feelings to a team that has dealt with a ton of negativity.Stanford has stepped on USC during its climb to the top of the Pac-12, using victories against the Trojans to lay the foundation for one of the best programs in the country. It started in 2007 with a startling upset of the Trojans as a 39-point underdog under Jim Harbaugh. Stanford then ripped off four straight victories against USC from 2009-12.Two talented teams who get after it, with a lot of mutual respect, Stanford coach David Shaw said. Its an emotional game every time.USC seemed to have restored order to the rivalry, which it leads 61-31-3 overall, with victories in 2013 and 14. Then the Cardinal swept the Trojans last season, including a rout in the Pac-12 championship game.Its not like they were just pounding us, USC safety Chris Hawkins said. In the second game, they physically beat us, but in the first game, if you look at the tape, we were giving it to them as much as they could handle.True, but let that settle in. USC was able to hang with Stanford. USC is not that far behind Stanford. This is the Pac-12s new normal.Of course, the balance of power in college football can shift from week to week and a trend can become a blip quickly.USC seems like a program that has been in crisis mode on and off the field since Texas Vince Young crossed the goal line in the waning seconds of the 2006 Rose Bowl. The Trojans hoped Clay Helton, a longtime assistant promoted after coach Steve Sarkisian was fired last season, would provide a steadying influence this year. But he needs to win to do that and since USC removed the interim tag from Helton late last season, the Trojans are 1-3.Things to know as Stanford attempts to keep the Trojans in its rearview mirror.TWO QBS: Max Browne is the starter for USC and Ryan Burns is No. 1 for Stanford, but it is likely both backups will get some time. More likely with the Trojans, where Sam Darnold provides a different look with his ability to run. Keller Chryst, who was beat out by Burns in the preseason, doesnt necessarily change Stanfords approach, but Shaw has said hell get his chances.WILD CAFF: McCaffrey had 700 all-purpose yards in two games against USC last season, including 461 in the Pac-12 championship game. The Heisman runner-up was everywhere in that second meeting, with 207 yards rushing and 105 yards receiving.Usually you see a runner or you see a receiver, Helton said. When you have got the combination of both, you got to make a decision on what you are going to do. Are you going to load the box and play man coverage in 1-on-1 situations, or are you going to play back and play more zone coverage and all of a sudden they are running the ball with those big linemen.The 8 p.m. ET nationally televised game gives McCaffrey the chance to show his stuff to those early-to-bed Heisman voters.SUPENSIONS: Suspended USC LB Osa Masina was charged with rape Thursday in his native Utah. He and suspended teammate Don Hill are also under investigation for sexual assault in a case near USCs campus.TOUGH STRETCH: The Cardinal had last week off and are entering their toughest stretch of schedule. Trips to UCLA and No. 8 Washington are up next. After a home game against Washington State, Stanford goes to Notre Dame.The Trojans, who bounced back from that Alabama beatdown by thumping Utah State at the Los Angeles Coliseum last week, are now facing back-to-back road games and short rest against two of the most physical teams in the Pac-12. The Trojans are at Utah next Friday.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP Abby Dahlkemper USA Jersey . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. Amy Rodriguez USA Jersey . Dukurs winning time was 1 minute, 45.76 seconds, a quarter-second better than Russias Alexander Tretiakov. Lativas Tomass Dukurs was third, 1.41 seconds off the pace. Jon Montgomery of Eckville, Alta. http://www.officialsocceruswntshop.com/christen-press-usa-jersey/ . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Morgan Brian Jersey .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. Megan Rapinoe Jersey . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- TCU and West Virginia share somewhat of a kinship as the two youngest members of the Big 12. Their head-to-head series has been close, too.Three of their four meetings since joining the league in 2012 have been decided on the final snap. Two went to overtime.We really have a lot of respect for each other, said TCU defensive end Josh Carraway. Theyre going to battle their butts off, just like they know were going to go out there and battle our butts off.No. 12 West Virginia (5-0, 2-0) is off to a surprising start but still has to face the conferences traditional heavyweights, starting Saturday with the Horned Frogs (4-2, 2-1). There are showdowns later against No. 9 Baylor and No. 16 Oklahoma, which are tied for first place at 3-0.TCU edged the Mountaineers 31-30 in 2014 and 39-38 in double overtime in 2012 after making the 1,200-mile trip to Morgantown, so coach Gary Patterson has a formula for beating West Virginia on the road.Score one more point, he said.TCU is the underdog this time and will face a West Virginia team coming off its best game of the season, a 48-17 win last Saturday at Texas Tech .West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen said he told his team the next day that if you like the feeling that youre having right now, then youve got to prepare. If you dont prepare, then were not going to be in position to be able to win. Then everybodys going to tell you that you suck again. Then youre going to be in a bad mood. Its reality.TCU is 31-9 on the road since 2009. Lately, though, the Horned Frogs have struggled anywhere they play, losing to Arkansas and Oklahoma at home and barely winning at Kansas .On the road, its just about finding your comfort zone, bringing your own energy, said TCU wide receiver John Diarse. Thats tough, depending on the place. West Virginia does have a reputation of having a hostile crowd. Weeve just got to go in and be confident in what we do, be comfortable in what we do and minimize the mistakes.dddddddddddd--Other things to know about the sixth-ever meeting between TCU and West Virginia:CLOSE CALLS: Both teams have had to squeeze out some wins. TCU came from nine points down in the fourth quarter to beat Kansas on the road two weeks ago. West Virginia beat Kansas State by a point after the Wildcats missed a late field goal, and BYU nearly came from 16 points down in the fourth quarter but was intercepted on its final drive near West Virginias end zone.RB PASS CATCHER: One of the focuses for West Virginia will be stopping TCU leading rusher Kyle Hicks, who also has a team-best 27 receptions for 308 yards. Hes big. A thick kid, hard to bring down, but can still run a little bit, said West Virginia defensive coordinator Tony Gibson. Hes busted a couple big runs and he catches the ball well, so they arent afraid to use him.FACING HOMETOWN TEAM: West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard is a native of Fort Worth, Texas. Howard has improved his passing accuracy significantly to 66 percent and is fourth in the Big 12 with 318 yards per game.SUSCEPTIBLE DEFENSE: TCU has allowed 40 or more points three times this season. Two years ago when they came here, they led pretty much every defensive category that existed, Holgorsen said. So just because theyre not, that doesnt mean that theyre not good. Theyre really good.COMEBACK FROGS: TCU overcame double-digit deficits against West Virginia in the second half in 2012, 2013 and 2014, losing only the 2013 game in overtime.---AP Sports Writer Stephen Hawkins in Fort Worth, Texas, contributed to this report.---AP college football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '