Sounds like Pete Carroll was in rare form — wasting no time in getting straight to it, starting with:

“As we look at this week coming up, it’s the halfway point of the season. Game six, with a bye to follow, it’s a chance to finish off the first half and that’s how we’re going about it.”

Then on the polls:

“I could care less about the polls. The polls mean nothing to me. They don’t mean anything to anybody until the end. Then they’re meaningful. I didn’t even know if we dropped or what we did. I didn’t even know that. My cohort here says we didn’t.”

On how the upcoming bye might change the way he will use some players:

“Not necessarily. It might weigh in knowing that guys have a rest coming. Particularly in Dwayne’s case, and I’m not thinking of anybody that that matters to…”

On being disappointed with the teams performance of late:

No – you can’t be any better than 5-0 so we’re doing fine with that.

On tailback Chauncey Washington’s development:

“I felt like I said a number of times that Chauncey was the best that he’s been. That was just an improvement scale that he was on… Still Chauncey’s going to continue to develop in his conditioning, in his speed work and just his mentality and I think that we’ve got a chance to see him continue to improve.”

On Arizona State:

“They have a very good running game. Transfer tailback Ryan Torain, you guys haven’t seen him yet maybe but this is an incredibly good football player that’s just starting to hit the scene for them just this year… that directs their running game and he’s very consistent. He’s averaged 6.5 yards a carry and he’s a stud. So that with the potential of the passing game makes them a very strong football team.”

On games coming down to one possession:

“I think it’s pretty cool. There’s a lot of things that go on in that game that don’t go on in games when you’re up like three touchdowns. You’re called on to coach a whole lot more… anticipate, direct, strategize, all that kind of stuff. I spend a whole lot more time coaching when it was like that than when it wasn’t. I feel pretty comfortable and familiar and I like to be taxed in that way personally. I think it’s good for our football team. I think it helps us to understand that there’s a lot of ways that games come out and you have to be prepared for a lot of different things. I think it makes you tough. I think it makes you more physically prepared and mentally prepared to finish well and do the things like we preached that you have to do at the end of games and we’re doing it.”

And how about some love from ASU head coach Dirk Koetter (we really feel sorry for this guy that his players don’t fight for him harder).

On USC and this weeks’ match-up:

“My thoughts on USC are that USC is still USC. I’ve done several press conferences already this week and I’ve watched the film of the two games of the last two weeks and to me, USC is still every bit as good as they’ve always been.”

On USC tailbacks, Chauncey Washington and Emmanuel Moody:

“USC has played something like six tailbacks and to me, they’re as talented as ever. Washington, I thought really displayed his power and his endurance last week as the game wore on. I thought he got stronger and stronger as the game wore on… Moody… I think he’s got a good feel for cutting the ball back and fitting into the crease and then running hard… Even though they’re going with more a committee approach, I think their running game is still very effective. You’d better be able to stop that or it’s going to be a long day.”

Pete Carroll And Dirk Koetter Discuss Saturday’s Coliseum Matchup [USCtrojans.com]