Two races that are wide open: Heisman and Pac-10

Five things to watch for this week in college football:

1 Sam Bradford is injured, Tim Tebow is struggling and Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen may have missed his chance in the final seconds against USC. That leaves this year’s Heisman Trophy race wide open for Alabama tailback Mark Ingram to perhaps become the school’s first winner.

2 USC has won seven straight Pac-10 titles, but this year’s race could be the craziest it has been in years. Oregon leads with a 3-0 record, with seven teams bunched behind with one or two defeats.

3 No. 10 Texas Christian heads to Provo for a key Mountain West game against Brigham Young. TCU needs the win to keep pace with Boise State in the battle for one open BCS slot afforded a top-12 champion from a conference without automatic qualification status.

4 Notre Dame’s eighth straight loss to USC on Saturday makes next week’s home game against Boston College an almost must-win for Coach Charlie Weis and the 4-2 Irish. Boston College has a six-game winning streak against Notre Dame.

5 No. 3 Texas earned a hard-fought three-point win over rival Oklahoma, but the Longhorns face a dangerous trip to Missouri next weekend. Missouri, once 4-0, is suddenly desperate after two conference losses have dropped the Tigers to 0-2 in the Big 12 North.

-- Chris Dufresne