Chris Petersen said this morning that USC will be “the biggest challenge” that his 2019 Huskies have had so far. 

With the Trojans coming off a big win over Utah in Los Angeles last weekend, they will definitely be out for blood as they come to Husky Stadium Saturday.

While the Huskies are a 9-point favorite at this point, they will also have blood in their eye because of the loss during the 2016 season that happened at home during a year that saw them go all the way to the college football playoff.

Petersen is taking nothing for granted, “I don’t want USC to be better — I’m just trying to make sure the Huskies are as good as we can be”, he said when asked about USC’s success fueling the perception of the Pac-12.

One thing Petersen touched on was the talk about USC’s air-raid offense, as it compares to Washington State’s, “It’s definitely different than Washington State’s, but you have some of the core concepts that are the same. Certainly (USC) is running the ball more than WSU, but they both like to throw it a lot.”

And he had nothing but good things to say about the USC receivers.

** Joe Tryon will miss the first half of the game due to his ejection in last week’s game for targeting, “It’s no different than what we always talk about. It’s all about strike zone”, Petersen said of that call, “Don’t leave it in the official’s hands.”

** Quinten Pounds is back after serving a suspension.

** Speaking of Washington State’s air raid, Petersen said you can never take any big lead for granted in any game, “It’s not over till it’s over”, he said.