College Football Week 9: Five teams on upset alert

October 24, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (9) celebrates with quarterback Cody Kessler (6) his touchdown scored against the Utah Utes during the second half at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

3. USC at California – Sat, Oct 31, 3:00 PM ET

Point Spread: USC – 5.5

The USC Trojans showed just how great they can be last week when they handed No. 3 Utah their first loss of the season in a dominating performance from true freshman linebacker Cameron Smith who had three interceptions, including one he returned for a score and sophomore wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster who is virtually unstoppable.

Jared Goff and the California Golden Bears, however, have regressed with back-to-back losses to Utah and a 16-point loss to UCLA last Thursday. Cal is an inferior team, that’s why they’re the home dog, but I think they can potentially catch USC in an emotional hangover after their big win for interim head coach Clay Helton and they had a couple of extra days of rest and to game plan for the Trojans.

Goff hasn’t had much help in recent weeks and he can’t do it alone this weekend if the Bears are going to pull the upset, but I think he displays much better ball security this week and the defense makes one more play to eek out a 34-31 win.

Next: Oklahoma State