Through the first four weeks of the season, the No. 6 USC football team has faced a series of increasing tests.

Week 1: How does everyone gel against non-threatening Rice? Week 2: The first Pac-12 matchup with Stanford. Week 3: A Fresno State team that could rack up points. Week 4: An undefeated Oregon State squad in a hostile road environment.

The Trojans (4-0, 2-0 in Pac-12) passed all those tests. This week, they face a new kind of trial, one that isn’t necessarily more difficult but is one that good teams must pass all the same.

The test is avoiding the letdown against the non-threatening opponent, which in USC’s case is Arizona State (1-3, 0-1), coming to the Coliseum on Saturday night.

The Sun Devils never figured to be much of a threat in the Pac-12 this season. With an NCAA investigation looming, Arizona State saw large swaths of its roster enter the transfer portal during the offseason, including quarterback Jayden Daniels and linebacker Eric Gentry, now a Trojan.

The bottom fell out further for the Sun Devils, however, when a home loss to Eastern Michigan led to the firing of head coach Herm Edwards following Week 3.

So Arizona State is down and damaged. With feisty Washington State up next week, followed by the pivotal road trip to Utah on the horizon, it would be easy for USC to overlook the Sun Devils.

And that is the new challenge that USC has to overcome this weekend.

“You can’t really switch your mindset,” linebacker Ralen Goforth said. “The mindset of this team is another week that we have to prepare and not take lightly. It’s a faceless opponent; we have to control what we can control and come in and do what we do.”

When Arizona State has the ball

During last week’s win, the USC defense answered a lot of questions people had about it to open the season. Yes, the Trojans again relied on turnovers to win the game. But USC also slowed Oregon State’s potent offense, limiting it below its season averages in yardage and points.

The Trojans should have an easier time against the Sun Devils, who rank 11th in the Pac-12 in yards and points per game, ahead of only hapless Colorado. Worse, the Sun Devils are 123rd out of 130 FBS teams when it comes to extending drives on third down with a 28.3% conversion rate.

When USC has the ball

The Trojans will be looking to get their offense back on track after a pedestrian performance against Oregon State. USC was still able to run the ball effectively with Travis Dye and managed to score the winning touchdown just in the nick of time. But Caleb Williams’ 16-for-36 passing performance leaves room for improvement.

Williams did not speak at his scheduled media availability on Wednesday, but head coach Lincoln Riley said he’s liked how the sophomore quarterback has looked in practice this week.

“He’s had a good week. He’s practiced well, very engaged with his teammates,” Riley said. “Business as usual.”

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Arizona State is more or less middle of the road in the Pac-12 when it comes to yards allowed and points allowed. But the Sun Devils still do have some playmakers on defense.

Chief among them is linebacker Kyle Soelle. The 6-foot-4 senior leads the entire Pac-12 and is second nationally with 51 tackles this season, averaging 12.8 per game. He also has two interceptions.

The Sun Devils as a whole have intercepted five passes this season, which ranks 22nd nationally. But the Trojans, of course, have yet to commit a turnover this season.