USC’s offense has been mediocre-to-bad in recent weeks, in large part due to a decline in the productivity of true freshman quarterback Matt Barkley.

But it’s likely no coincidence that Barkley sagged while his two top targets — tight end Anthony McCoy and receiver Damian Williams — missed action with ankle sprains.

The good news for the Trojans is that both Williams and McCoy, coming out of a bye week, should be ready to play against rival UCLA on Saturday.

Barkley last had both of those players healthy and running around in an opposing secondary against Oregon State, when the Trojans scored 42 points, the most the Beavers have surrendered all season.

USC’s offense has scored just 31 points over its last 10 quarters of football, most of it played without McCoy or Williams or both. UCLA leads the Pac-10 in scoring defense (20.6 points per game).

So getting McCoy and Williams back is a big deal.

Of course, ankles are tricky. Both may start, but will they be able to go the whole way and how close to 100 percent will they be?