After narrowly escaping Boulder with a one-possession win over unranked Colorado, the Trojans are back home and looking to win convincingly over the Arizona Wildcats Saturday during Trojan Family Weekend.

USC (5-0, 3-0 Pac-12) saw its Top 25 national ranking drop again to No. 9 heading into Saturday’s matchup against Arizona (3-2, 1-1). The Wildcats will also be entering the game Saturday coming off of a close game, holding their own against the No. 7 ranked Washington Huskies (5-0, 2-0) last Saturday. The Wildcats fought to the end and lost by one possession with a final score of 31-24.

If USC learned anything from the two-game road trip against its unranked Pac-12 foes, it’s that no team can be taken lightly in college football. Head Coach Lincoln Riley expects the Wildcats’ offense to present some challenges for USC’s defense.

“They were probably a couple of third and extra long conversions away from having a great shot to win it,” Riley said in a press conference Tuesday. “I think this is an improved football team and a better football team than what we played in Tucson last year.”

The Trojans’ offense played well in its first two road games, putting up 90 points combined against the Arizona State University Sun Devils (1-4, 0-2) and Colorado Buffaloes (3-2, 0-2). However, USC did commit its first two turnovers of the season on the road, with a fumble lost against the Sun Devils and junior quarterback Caleb Williams’ first interception of the season against the Buffaloes.

A return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum should be a welcome sight for the Trojans on both sides of the ball, as USC is scoring an average of 59.3 points per home game on offense and surrendering just 17.3 points per game on defense at home this season. Despite USC’s success at home so far this season, Arizona could be able to test USC as the Wildcats are scoring 27.6 points per game on offense and only surrendering 19 points per game on defense, good for fifth in the conference.

On the offensive side, Arizona could be led by redshirt freshman quarterback Noah Fifta, who threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start against Washington. Sophomore wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan is leading the Wildcats in touchdown receptions, with five on the season to go along with 27 catches for 386 yards.

Arizona defenders that could make noise against the Trojans include sophomore linebacker Jacob Manu and graduate edge rusher Taylor Upshaw. Manu leads the Wildcats with 47 tackles, and Upshaw is leading Arizona in sacks with 4.5 on the season.

The Trojans have three former Arizona players on the team this year in junior wide receiver Dorian Singer, redshirt senior defensive lineman Kyon Barrs and redshirt senior cornerback Christian Roland-Wallace. Riley said the three of them will be ready to compete against their former team, but it should not be something that is too emotional for them.

“They’re three pretty steady guys,” Riley said. “We try not to make it too big for them. We’re glad those guys are with us and we know they’ll be ready and excited to play against their old group.”

Singer transferred to USC after two seasons with the Wildcats. Last year, Singer had 66 catches for 1,105 yards and six touchdowns. His approach for Saturday against his former team, however, is that it’s just another game.

“There’s nothing extra, I’m just going to go out there and play my game like usual,” Singer said. “I talked to one of my former teammates in Jonah Coleman and just wished him luck this week.”

Barrs and Roland-Wallace both played at Arizona for four seasons before transferring to USC and are excited to face off against their former team.

“It’s like a homecoming game to me,” Barrs said in a press conference Tuesday. “I just got to go out there with my guys and play my game and play our game together.”

Roland-Wallace, who had his first interception of the season against the Buffaloes this past Saturday, is not thinking about the fact that he is playing his former team.

“I wouldn’t say [it’s weird], it’s just another game,” Roland-Wallace said. “There’s no hard feelings or bad blood with anybody that’s there.”

Arizona limited a Washington offense that had scored at least 40 points in every game this season to a season-low 31 points last Saturday. Senior quarterback Michael Penix Jr. was sacked twice, and his 363 passing yards were his second-fewest in a game so far this season. Williams has 24 total touchdowns on the season, and is looking for the Trojans to attack Arizona’s defense at every opportunity.

“Arizona just kept them from having those explosive plays,” Williams said. “When we get our shots we have to execute and be consistent. We have to go out there and kill.”

The action kicks off between the Trojans and the Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Coliseum.