Unbeaten Bruins are in a familiar spot — but with a happier ending in mind

This is tricky but familiar ground UCLA football players tread these days.

Everyone is back on the bandwagon. The Bruins are seventh in the Associated Press media poll. There is national playoff talk and the occasional over-the-top comment that freshman quarterback Josh Rosen is a Heisman Trophy candidate. The Pac-12 Conference South Division seems theirs for the taking.

Some of the optimism is valid, which makes the situation even more dangerous for the Bruins (4-0 overall, 1-0 in Pac-12 play) when Arizona State (2-2, 0-1) rolls into the Rose Bowl on Saturday.

UCLA players tiptoed through hyperbole after four weeks last season, when they were ranked eighth and there was talk about a spot in the national playoff.

The Bruins would like to hop off memory lane right there. UCLA lost to unranked Utah in the fifth week in 2014. Later, another loss, to unranked Stanford, cost the Bruins a spot in the Pac-12 championship game.

Players admitted all the positive publicity had seeped into the locker room.

“That was a hard lesson to learn,” linebacker Deon Hollins said. “We overlooked teams. We came out and played lethargic. A couple of us talked about that this week.”

Defensive back Jaleel Wadood said he would like to think the Bruins are smarter now. “We know what’s ahead of us,” he said, “but we don’t look at what’s ahead of us.”

Arizona State defeated Cal Poly (barely) and New Mexico, but was thumped by Texas A&M and USC.

USC parlayed four turnovers into a 42-14 victory over Arizona State last week. That was nothing new in Tempe.

A year ago, the Sun Devils were buried by UCLA, 62-27, in the fourth week. In 2013, it was Stanford that manhandled them in Week 4, 42-28.

“The fourth week has been interesting for us,” Coach Todd Graham said.

Now comes the point where Graham would like to see history repeat itself.

Arizona State won five consecutive games after the UCLA defeat. A year earlier, the Sun Devils won eight of nine following the Stanford loss, losing only to Notre Dame by three points.

“Sometimes you get your teeth kicked in,” Graham said. “Most of the time, it’s self-inflicted. We’re disappointed with how we played. But you don’t have time to sit around and do that. Our guys know how to respond.”

UCLA Coach Jim Mora doesn’t need a response; he just needs the Bruins to listen to him and not, as he calls it, the “noise.”

That the Bruins are the Pac-12’s highest-ranked team and many people seem to believe in them at the moment presents a different set of challenges.

“Social media has a big impact on how much kids and college players hear,” running back Paul Perkins said. “There’s always a little buzz when you have success. It is very important for the older guys to stay humble and stay grounded. The younger players see that and act the same.”

Perkins’ solution is simple: “I haven’t heard anything,” he said, “because I shut down my Twitter and Instagram” accounts.

Hollins cited the loss of key players on defense — linebacker Myles Jack, defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes, cornerback Fabian Moreau — as a strong reason the Bruins shouldn’t get cocky.

“We definitely know how many injuries we have,” Hollins said. “That definitely puts things in perspective.”

Mora is confident his team will remain focused.

“There is a feeling that they are unsatisfied,” Mora said. “They have been through it before and have matured. They just don’t react. They’ve got an agenda.”

Nowhere is time set aside to talk about championships and playoffs.

“We have been in this situation,” receiver Jordan Payton said. “We started to talk about it and got hit in the mouth.”

chris.foster@latimes.com

Twitter: @cfosterlatimes