LOS ANGELES -- Participants from two of last season's New Year's Six bowl games face off for the first time ever on Saturday, when No. 4 USC hosts Western Michigan at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Closing the 2016 season on a nine-game winning streak -- capped with a thrilling comeback victory over Penn State in the Rose Bowl -- USC went into the offseason on a greater high than most of its college football counterparts.
That momentum has turned into major hype.
The Trojans' No. 4 preseason ranking is their highest such designation since opening 2012 at No.