Lane Kiffin isn’t fooled by Cal’s loss to Nevada

California gave up 52 points in a loss to No. 19 Nevada last month, but the Golden Bears have been much tougher on opponents with more traditional offenses.

So USC Coach Lane Kiffin considers Cal’s misstep in Reno an aberration, a brush with a potent version of the “pistol” offense that won’t aid quarterback Matt Barkley and the Trojans on Saturday at the Coliseum.

“That 52 doesn’t help us unless we’re going to put Barkley in the pistol this week,” Kiffin said.

There is no need to change an offense that looked sharp in a last-second loss to Stanford on Saturday.

Barkley, however, faces his toughest test of the season against Cal.

The Golden Bears, 3-2 overall and 1-1 in Pacific 10 Conference play, rank first in the Pac-10 and eighth in the nation in defense, giving up 254.8 yards per game.

Excluding its loss against Nevada, Cal has held opponents to 10 points or fewer and less than 100 yards rushing per game. In last week’s 35-7 victory over UCLA, the Golden Bears yielded only 26 yards rushing.

They rank sixth in the nation against the pass, giving up 149 yards per game.

Meantime, Barkley is coming off perhaps the most impressive performance of his young career.

A week after avoiding turnovers but misfiring on two crucial passes against Washington, Barkley passed for a career-best 390 yards and three touchdowns without an interception against Stanford. Barkley also engineered what would have been a game-winning drive had the Trojans not surrendered a last-second field goal for the second week in a row.

“We’ve seen the next step in his progression of what we’ve talked about all along …going from a good quarterback to a great quarterback,” Kiffin said this week.

Kiffin said he called out Barkley during a team meeting after the sophomore had two passes intercepted against Washington State on Sept. 25. It was the second game in a row that Barkley had two passes intercepted.

“He’s really responded,” Kiffin said, later adding, “Those throws he missed at the end of the Washington game he made this time.”

Quick hits

Kiffin learned at the elbow of Cal Coach Jeff Tedford as a quarterback and graduate assistant at Fresno State. … Former USC quarterback Aaron Corp, a starter at Richmond, suffered a knee injury Saturday in the first series against New Hampshire and will have season-ending surgery this week, the school announced. Corp had passed for 645 yards and three touchdowns, with four interceptions. … USC resumes practice Tuesday after taking Monday off. … USC and the L.A. Sports Council Foundation are accepting contributions for the annual “Touchdown for Youth” program that will enable economically disadvantaged children to attend the Trojans’ Nov. 6 game against Arizona State. Each $30 tax-deductible donation goes toward a ticket to the game and refreshments. Information: (213) 482-6333.

gary.klein@latimes.com

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