Beginning the preseason as a favorite to win the Pac-12 and make the College Football Playoff, the USC Trojans football team now faces a full myriad of questions amid a two-game losing skid to Notre Dame and Utah over the last couple of weeks. And with an even more daunting schedule ahead full of their conference opponents, how this once-promising season will play out for the Trojans is looking bleak.

It's not as if USC football didn't have questions entering the season; it's that most of those problems were either hoped to be fixed or at least minimized. The biggest issue for the Trojans was that of fixing their 94th-ranked total defense from last season that averaged giving up 29 points per game. This season, they're currently ranked 104th in total defense, giving up an average of 30.5 points per game, according to Team Rankings.

But now the problem has even moved over to the offensive side of the ball, where star quarterback and former Heisman winner Caleb Williams has been humbled over the last two weeks. Williams is coming off a career-worst game two weeks ago where he threw three interceptions and under 200 yards against Notre Dame, and then followed it up against his arch-nemesis Utah by not throwing a touchdown for the first time in 21 games. That could be because USC's offensive line is ranked 93rd in the country in sacks allowed with 20.

This now leaves the Trojans football team beaten, battered, and humiliated by none other than their fiercest rivals, particularly Utah, who has bested them three times in two seasons, once in the Pac-12 Championship. Some would argue that this team has nothing left to play for, which isn't necessarily true. There are still four games remaining for USC this season that could change the entire dynamic of the Pac-12 conference in its swan song season. Though it is unlikely they still have a chance at a berth in the College Football Playoff. But let's get into the rest of USC football's remaining schedule predictions.

@ Cal

Much like a lot of games this season, USC football likes to keep games close, and last year's game against Cal was no different. The Trojans held off a bad Golden Bears team 41-35 to secure their ninth win of the season after losing their first game to Utah two weeks prior.

Cal is 3-4 on the season with only one Pac-12 victory to their name against Arizona State, with their only other wins against Idaho and North Texas. They've lost two straight against Oregon State and Utah. This is USC's best chance to get back on the winning side of things, as it's the easiest remaining opponent on their schedule. In fact, it's the only game left on their schedule that isn't against a currently ranked opponent. This is a must-win for Trojans football because if this matchup were to go awry, the season is definitely all but dead with the worst yet to come.

Washington

Two weeks ago, Washington was coming off one of the biggest wins in the program's history against Oregon in a top-10 matchup. Last week, they may have had their worst performance against Arizona State in which they didn't score an offensive touchdown, winning 15-7. It'd be easy to say that their win over the Ducks produced quite the hangover. We'll see how they fare against Stanford before playing USC.

USC football was able to avoid Washington and Michael Penix Jr. last season, but they're not going to be as fortunate this year. Barring any unforeseen slip-up by the Huskies, they should still be No. 5 or better when the Trojans will host them at the Coliseum.

It's difficult to see how this game could go USC's way, especially with the way that Penix is playing, not to mention going up against a vulnerable USC defense. He'll want to prove that he's still better than Williams, last year's Heisman winner, in his own campaign this season. But this will also be a Huskies defense that could pose trouble for Williams as well. USC loses again, their third of the season.

@ Oregon

This was yet another game the Trojans football team was able to avoid last year. This will most likely be USC's second top-10 team faced in as many weeks. But that will be depending on if the Ducks can get past No. 13 Utah this week and then Cal the week after. Even if Oregon does lose, it's unlikely the Ducks fall out of the top-25 or that they won't be a challenge for the Trojans.

Oregon is an all-around great football team, ranking in the top-20 in total offense and defense. By the time USC football gets to this game, it's hard to imagine what the mindset of the team or their record will be, especially after facing Washington. The Ducks still have a lot to play for, with hopes of getting back to the Pac-12 Championship and even further. USC may be just trying to salvage a productive season at this point. USC loses another one.

UCLA

Playing at the Rose Bowl against their cross-town rival last season, the Trojans once again barely hung on, winning by three to beat UCLA. It was a 48-45 back-and-forth slugfest between the two Southern California teams, which saw Williams further establish himself as the front-runner for the Heisman, where he threw for 470 yards and scored three total touchdowns.

It was also the game that secured the Trojans football team their advancement into the Pac-12 title game. If these predictions hold somewhat true, this game will likely not dictate that for USC this season. For one, the UCLA defense is much improved, as it's one of the best in the entire country now, so the Bruins surrendering 40-plus points doesn't seem likely. But two, this goes back to what exactly this USC football could look like once it gets here.

The Trojans could be sitting at 7-4 with virtually nothing left to play for. And who knows, if that's the case, Williams could take up Emmanuel Acho's advice and could be sitting out the rest of the season. And even worse, Lincoln Riley could be throwing out more NFL feelers. If that is the case, then USC will be playing for nothing more than beating an in-state rival just before they both leave for the Big Ten next year. Even then, that may not be enough motivation to get them a victory. USC football falls to 7-5, just barely headed for a bowl game and full of unmet expectations.