GAME BREAKDOWN
KEY MATCHUP: In order to beat the Pac-12 South’s co-leader, on the road, Cal needs to win the turnover battle. The secondary and linebacker corps will be responsible, meaning cornerback Camryn Bynum or possibly linebacker Evan Weaver (who has consecutive games with a pick). USC quarterback J.T. Daniels is a freshman and his TD-to-interception ratio is only 9-to-7.
DRAFT SLANT
–LB Evan Weaver has helped his draft stock this season. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound junior, has 95 tackles through nine games. Weaver’s father, Todd Weaver, recently spoke to the CBS station in Spokane, Wash, where Weaver played high school ball, about his son’s ascension. “I don’t expect anything less. That’s what he’s told us since the first grade. I don’t doubt that child,” Todd Weaver said of Evan’s NFL aspirations. “I remember watching the first game when he was (on varsity). … He didn’t start. He played the second series and never sat out again. So to think about the NFL is pretty crazy.”
ROSTER REPORT
–WR Brandon Singleton is questionable for the USC game with an undisclosed injury.
–RB Derrick Clark is questionable for the USC game with a lower-body injury.
–LB Derron Brown is questionable for the USC game for personal reasons.
–OL Henry Bazakas is questionable for the USC game with a lower-body injury.
–QB Ross Bowers is questionable for the USC game with a thumb injury.
–LB Cameron Goode is out for the season with a leg injury.
–RB Johnny Adams Jr. is out for the season with a lower-body injury.
–LB Gerran Brown is out for the season with a lower-body injury.
–WR Jordan Duncan is out indefinitely with a hand injury.
–OL Michael Saffell is out for the season with a leg injury.
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