College football rankings 2023: Projected Week 5 AP Top 25 after Ohio State breaks Notre Dame, Colorado exposed

Projected AP Top 25 college football rankings after Week 4: No. 8-7

8. USC Trojans

If there were any USC fans thinking that they could skip the game in Tempe against Arizona State because it would be a cakewalk, that was certainly not the case.

With some pushing the narrative that the Trojans defense has taken steps forward, Alex Grinch's unit looked like they were fighting for their lives against an ASU offense many weren't sure had a pulse coming into this game. The good news, as it almost always is, for USC is that they have Caleb Williams and their opponents don't.

The reigning Heisman winner was phenomenal in Week 3, accounting for five total touchdowns while passing for 322 yards. MarShawn Lloyd was definitely the secret sauce with 154 yards rushing, helping carry the offense to a 42-28 win. Perhaps it was partly looking ahead to Colorado, but this performance was enough to knock USC down in the rankings, especially with how Washington and Penn State looked in Week 4.

7. Washington Huskies

Based on the first three games of Washington's 2023 season, it stood to reason that the Huskies were going to make light work of the Cal Golden Bears late on Saturday night. Mission most definitely accomplished with that.

Michael Penix Jr. and the Kalen DeBoer offense looked borderline unstoppable. That's been the case all season, but was even more impressive when up against one of the best defensive minds in the Pac-12, Cal head coach Justin Wilcox. Penix did throw a pick, but still eclipsed 300 yards again with four touchdowns, two to both Ja'Lynn Polk and Rome Odunze.

The defense remains somewhat of a question mark against better competition, but the Huskies offense has been so potent, what the opposing offense does hasn't mattered much at all. That was the case again on Saturday.