Lincoln Riley has said multiple times he thinks the shorter week of prep for Colorado — who the Trojans host Friday night — will help to keep the eighth-ranked USC Trojans focused on the task at hand.

USC doesn’t have the margins to overlook the 1-8 Buffaloes. Not if it wants to win a Pac-12 title. Not if it wants to make it to the College Football Playoff. The Trojans have played too-close-for-comfort games in each of the last two weeks. A poor Cal team made things interesting. Arizona tried to pull off a late rally the week prior.

Oregon dominated Colorado in Boulder last Saturday, 49-10. The Trojans are looking to show they can have the same kind of complete performance.

“I definitely wasn’t satisfied with that win, because I just knew there was so much more out there for us on all sides of the ball,” said offensive lineman Justin Dedich. “We had a talk. Winning’s tough, regardless of who it is. Week in and week out. We’ve got to appreciate the little things, the little wins, and just don’t let it (poor closes) carry over. We had a short week, so our mindset had to flip quick on Sunday and we had to get ready for this game.”

It might be tendency to dismiss Colorado. The team has one win on the year. It is statistically one of the worst defenses in all of college football. It’s mistake-prone. It’s coming to Los Angeles as a 34-point underdog. All of that is there.

But this is a different week. The routine is broken, the monotony (if there is any) is disrupted.

“I think because of it being a short week, it’s kind of all on our mind right now,” Dedich said. “Our whole schedule is a little thrown off, all of our circadian rhythms. It’s kind of weird so we don’t really have time to focus on (CU’s lack of success). We’re just trying to get our bodies prepared for Friday.”

Added Riley: “We all feel the same way. We stunk offensively in the first half, we stunk defensively in the second half.”

They’ll look to put things together Friday. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. PT on FS1.