In his younger days, UCLA's Rick Neuheisel might have nipped at the bait. But Neuheisel, now a wizened veteran in his 10th year as a head coach, doesn't even sniff it this week.

As in: Hey, Rick, what do you think about what's going on at USC, the Trojans giving up 102 points while losing two out of three and falling out of the Rose Bowl race?

"That doesn't factor in with us," he said. "I know there are some UCLA fans that creates a moment of enjoyment for. We're just about us."

He doesn't pause before answering. His tone betrays nothing.

Still, whether Neuheisel says it or not, a struggling USC should make life easier for the rebuilding Bruins, who appear headed for another marquee recruiting class.

A five-game Pac-10 losing streak has given way two a two-game winning streak, and the Bruins (5-5, 2-5) now only need to win one of their final two games to earn bowl eligibility. Arizona State visits Saturday and the Bruins conclude their season at USC next weekend.

It's fair to say winning has buoyed the mood in Westwood.

"Absolutely," Neuheisel said. "We're a young team and young teams are impressionable. To come off a couple of victories and to still have a chance to get into postseason. Those are exciting things for our guys."

The Sun Devils (4-6, 2-5) still have their own bowl aspirations. They need to beat UCLA and then take down rival Arizona next weekend to earn eligibility. They will be trying to win in the Rose Bowl with their third starting quarterback of the season, sophomore Samson Szakacsy.

Szakacsy came off the bench and played well in the loss at Oregon last weekend, and his speed and scrambling ability will add another wrinkle to the Sun Devils struggling offense.

"We certainly take notice of him," Neuheisel said. "He does provide different challenges."

Speaking of struggling -- anyone recall last year's ASU-UCLA game? The Bruins outgained the Sun Devils 306 to 122, but still managed to lose 34-9. How the heck did they do that? Arizona State tied an NCAA record with four defensive touchdowns -- three on interceptions returns and one on a fumble recovery, when everybody just stood around and stared at each other while defensive tackle Paul Unga jogged 17 yards for a touchdown.

When a reporter paused over assigning a descriptive term for the game, Neuheisel offered a helping word.

"Ugly?" Neuheisel interjected.

"We have have to do a really good job of not turning the ball over," Neuheisel said. "Obviously, that was the nightmare of a year ago."

That's one area of clear improvement. Last year, the Bruins were minus-10 in turnover margin. This year, they are plus-2.

Still, this one doesn't figure to be pretty if you like offense.

In the Pac-10, Arizona State and UCLA rank Nos. 8 and 9 in scoring offense and Nos. 2 and 3 in scoring defense. Neither team runs the ball terribly well, though the Sun Devils are better at it and the Bruins run defense has been gashed at times this year.

It may, however, come down to the two young quarterbacks. Szakacsy could position himself to take the lead in the Sun Devils quarterback competition next spring with a strong performance, while UCLA's redshirt freshman Kevin Prince could take another step forward during a promising late-season surge.