Should Be Rough Weekend For Usc, Ucla

College football in Los Angeles may have reached a new low this week: Both Southern California and UCLA are double-digit underdogs. At home.

Tough to comprehend, perhaps, but the reasoning seems justified considering the opposition. The 23rd-ranked Trojans open the season against No. 5 Florida State and the Bruins play No. 3 Tennessee at the Rose Bowl.

“USC is definitely a program that any college coach would like to play,” Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden said.

For Florida State, Saturday might be a good time for the first meeting between the teams. The Seminoles are favored by 12-1/2 points, even with a bunch of suspended players.

USC coach John Robinson figures his team needs a little luck to pull an upset.

“I don’t think our weapons are very sharp,” Robinson, who will start sophomore John Fox at quarterback, said. “We’re not one of those teams where you say, ‘Whoa.’ Our weapons could be pretty sharp by midseason.”

While the Seminoles go with Thad Busby - he threw for 1,866 yards and 16 TDs in ‘96 - Fox has thrown two passes for the Trojans - one incomplete, the other intercepted.

The Vols, coming off a 52-17 rout of Texas Tech that saw Peyton Manning tie a school record with five TD passes, are favored by 14-1/2 points over the Bruins.

UCLA dropped a 37-34 decision at Washington State last week as the Cougars’ Ryan Leaf threw for 381 yards and three TDs and the defense stopped freshman Jermaine Lewis on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 2:48 left.

How can the Bruins stop Manning?

“You’ve just got to hope that you improve,” UCLA coach Bob Toledo said. “… This isn’t the NFL, you don’t make trades or put guys on waivers. We’ve got to go with the guys that we’ve got.”

The Vols, meanwhile, had problems with the Bruins last season before winning 35-20 at Knoxville, Tenn., in Toledo’s coaching debut.

UCLA crossed up the Vols’ offense with a variety of attacking defenses. Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer remembers it well.

“Last year it was just a fire drill out there at times, trying to figure out who to block,” Fulmer said. “It’ll help us having played them once, and it’ll help that we’ve seen them on film once this year.”

Twenty of the Top 25 teams are in action this weekend, including three matchups between ranked teams - No. 5 Florida State at No. 23 USC, No. 7 Washington at No. 19 Brigham Young and No. 24 Colorado State at No. 8 Colorado.

Six Top 25 games are first-time matchups: Florida State-USC, Auburn-Virginia, Indiana-North Carolina, Central Michigan-Florida, Texas-El Paso-LSU and Rutgers-Texas.

Pittsburgh (plus 32) at No. 1 Penn State: Mike McQueary passes first test as Nittany Lions QB … PENN STATE 44-14.

Central Michigan (plus 40-1/2) at No. 2 Florida: Gators score points aplenty now that coach Steve Spurrier is angry at his offense … FLORIDA 56-7.

No. 3 Tennessee (minus 14-1/2) at UCLA: Now that Peyton Manning is warmed up … TENNESSEE 42-31.

No. 4 Washington (minus 7) at No. 19 Brigham Young: BYU has score to settle, but Huskies QB Brock Huard has other plans … WASHINGTON 41-21.

No. 5 Florida State (minus 12) at No. 23 Southern California: Seminoles 37-11-1 vs. teams ranked in AP poll … FLORIDA STATE 35-28.

Indiana (plus 29-1/2) at No. 7 North Carolina: Tar Heels defense still the best; offense pretty good, too… . NORTH CAROLINA 42-7.

No. 24 Colorado State (plus 15-1/2) at No. 8 Colorado: Buffs are 31-1-1 vs. Rams in Boulder … COLORADO 42-35.

Texas-El Paso (plus 37) at No. 10 LSU: Kevin Faulk gets his Heisman campaign off to flying start … LSU 42-14.

Georgia Tech (plus 20) at No. 11 Notre Dame: Finally, Bob Davie makes Notre Dame coaching debut … NOTRE DAME 35-20.

Rutgers (plus 38-1/2) at No. 12 Texas: Scarlet Knights allowed 200 points in last four games … TEXAS 50-0.

No. 16 Auburn (minus 3) at Virginia (tonight): Passing of QB Dameyune Craig should be enough for Auburn … AUBURN 27-26.

San Jose State (plus 30) at No. 17 Stanford: Not a pretty coaching debut for San Jose State’s Dave Baldwin … STANFORD 45-10.

Appalachian State (no line) at No. 18 Clemson: Tigers won three previous meetings by combined score of 122-7 … CLEMSON 42-0. Northern Iowa (no line) at No. 20 Iowa: Another mismatch for a new coach - Northern Iowa’s Mike Dunbar … IOWA 45-0.

No. 21 Kansas State (minus 32-1/2) at Northern Illinois: JuCo transfer Michael Bishop has easy time in QB debut for K-State … KANSAS STATE 35-7.

No. 21 Northwestern (minus 14) at Wake Forest: Will Northwestern be ready for the Deacons this year? … WAKE FOREST 27-24.

Western Michigan (plus 27) at No. 25 Michigan State: Sedrick Irvin has a field day for Spartans … MICHIGAN STATE 47-14.

Last Week: 8-2 (straight); 5-5 (spread)

Season: 10-2 straight); 6-6 (spread)