Arizona was on its bye week this past week, giving the coaching staff time to hit the road for a bit of in-season recruiting and to hit the film room hard to try and figure out how to recalibrate a slumping defense.

Next up: USC. The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Wildcats (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) welcome the 10th-ranked Trojans — who score 40 points a game and are led by Heisman-hopeful quarterback Caleb Williams — to Arizona Stadium on Saturday for a 4 p.m. PT kick.

“I would say we had a bonus Sunday (to prepare),” coach Jedd Fisch said on Monday when he met with reporters. “They were coming off a bye as well, so you’re in a situation where both teams… the last film we had was eight days ago. So you’re really able to be way ahead, you’re able to watch your own film, you’re able to self-scout yourself, but then on the same token, you’re also able to start looking at SC a few days (earlier).

“On Sunday, we were able to use it like a Tuesday. We were able to get a lift in. We were in full pads, where on a normal Sunday — if we were playing a game on Saturday — we would be in just shorts and a helmet. In this case, we were in full pads, we were able to hit and have a good two-hour doozy of a practice.”

Fisch said USC will challenge the Wildcats in all three phases. He talked at length on how they have to be better on defense — and what changes they can implement to get better there — as well as recruiting, the elusiveness of quarterback Jayden de Laura, and more.

Check out the video below: