One of these days, USC is going to get its hand burned playing with fire.

But Saturday wasn’t that day.

Despite Arizona’s best efforts and an early lead, USC punched back and punched last to beat the Wildcats, 43-31, in triple overtime.

It was the Trojans’ 3rd consecutive suspect win, and doubt is creeping in that the defense can hold strong enough and long enough for USC to emerge from a Pac-12 gauntlet.

On a weekend when the Pacific Northwest’s twin titans rested up to meet in a potential Pac-12 title game melee, all eyes were on USC’s escape act.

Here’s one thing I learned from every Pac-12 team that played in Week 6 …

Arizona: Wildcats pull off 300-100-100 trident against ailing USC defense

This is a stat you probably didn’t expect: USC failed to have a 300-yard passer nor a 100-yard rusher or receiver against the Wildcats on Saturday night.

And the Wildcats had all 3, yet still lost.

Star backup quarterback Noah Fifita had 303 passing yards and 5 touchdowns with 1 pick, backup running back Jonah Coleman had 143 yards and wideout Tetairoa McMillan had 138 receiving yards, while Jacob Cowing narrowly missed with 88, though he had 4 scores.

With that kind of production and yardage disparity, you normally see the reverse result, but USC stays undefeated.

Arizona State: Trenton Bourguet does it again

Give Trenton Bourguet the ball, he delivers. As he proved again on Saturday in a 27-24 loss to the Sun Devils.

Bourguet topped 300 yards for the 5th time in 7 starts, completing 32-of-49 passes for 335 yards and a touchdown. The only issue for Bourguet was the 5 sacks allowed, his most in a game.

After losing the QB competition out of fall camp, Bourguet has seized the role. Next step? A win.

“The last 2 weeks, we’ve played winning football,” coach Kenny Dillingham said. “We’ve won every category but we haven’t won the game. And we really got to look at why and what guys should be on the field when the game is on the line.”

Cal: Fernando Mendoza steps up for Bears

With Sam Jackson V and Ben Finley not quite generating the amount of offensive fireworks that Cal needs to compete in the Pac-12, Mendoza got his shot in the saddle Saturday against a potent Oregon State defense.

Mendoza completed 21-of-32 passes for 207 yards and 2 scores with a pick. The freshman had only attempted 1 pass before Saturday.

Colorado: Yet another preferred target emerges for Shedeur Sanders

A week after true freshman wide receiver Omarion Miller set social media on fired with nearly 209 receiving yards in just over a quarter, another Buffalo newcomer had a day as Colorado held off Arizona State.

This time, Miller had just 1 catch for 9 yards, but Javon Antonio had 5 grabs for 81 yards and a score. Prior to Saturday, Antonio had just 3 catches for 42 yards, all against Oregon in Week 5.

It wasn’t just the total, either. It was the timing. After ASU tied the score with a TD in the final minute, Colorado drove 50 yards to set up the game-winning field goal with 12 seconds left. Antonio accounted for all 50 yards, including a huge 43-yard catch from Sanders.

Oregon State: DJ Uiagalelei delivers big game

Entering the game averaging just a bit over 200 passing yards and with 8 touchdowns against 4 interceptions, it is fair to say Uiagalelei hasn’t exactly set the world on fire in his first season in Corvallis after transferring from Clemson.

On Saturday against a Cal defense that allowed 304 yards and 4 touchdowns by Michael Penix Jr. and Washington 2 weeks ago and another 300-plus to Trenton Bourguet last week, DJU 275 yards and 5 scores, his most profiling game since Sept. 24 of last year, when he had 372 yards and 5 touchdowns at Wake Forest.

UCLA: Running game churns out necessary yards

Playing against a Washington State defense that ranked 3rd-worst against the run in the Pac-12, the UCLA ground game did just enough to get the Bruins through its 25-17 win.

They averaged just 3.4 yards, but compared to the Cougars, it might have been a million. Wazzu managed just 12 total rushing yards on 19 carries as the Bruins had a monster defensive performance.

And so did Carson Steele, who totaled 140 yards on 30 carries. His long run was just 13 yards, but he constantly churned out an extra yard or two on every rush.

USC: Trojan horses do little against former team

Saturday was a reunion of sorts for a handful of former Arizona impact players turned Trojans. But it was not so much a victory lap as a pleasant get together.

Dorian Singer, who had an electric performance last year against the Trojans with 3 touchdowns, had zero catches against his former Arizona teammates. Defensive back Christian Roland-Wallace had 4 tackles and defensive lineman Kyon Barrs had just one tackle.

Not exactly a revenge tour.

Washington State: Cameron Ward’s Heisman hopes disappear against brutal Bruins defense

A UCLA defense that held Utah to just 1 offensive touchdown 2 weeks ago was once again stingy, putting the clamps on Ward in shocking fashion.

Before Saturday, his season-low for completion percentage was 63.6 in a Week 2 win over Wisconsin. Against the Bruins, Ward connected on just 19-of-39 passes (48.7%) for 197 yards. He’s had 1 game with sub-50 percent passing day in each of the past 3 years.

“Every throw, every decision, it’s not always going to be perfect,” coach Jake Dickert said after the game. “He was under duress the whole game. It was hard for him to be confident and go through his progressions. He’s got to bounce back and it’s about responding.”

Oregon, Stanford, Utah and Washington had a bye week.