This weekend will tell us where USC's two most high-profile sports programs stand. USC versus Indiana will tell us about the state of the Trojan football program. USC women's basketball versus South Carolina on Sunday will show us where this women's team is, two weeks into a much-anticipated journey. This weekend is made for big dreams, but it is also a story of two different situations. Let's explain.

There is a lot more finality surrounding the USC football team's visit to Indiana. Can Lincoln Riley turn the corner? Can this football team finally solve the Big Ten road game problem? Can the Trojans take down Curt Cignetti, the best coach in college football, on his home turf? Can USC take a huge step in the push to the College Football Playoff? These are defining questions. We will get clear answers to them on Saturday in Bloomington.

For USC women's basketball, the questions surrounding Sunday's game are certainly interesting and compelling: Will JuJu Watkins be at her best in her first game against an elite opponent after one and a half years away from live action? Will Saniyah Hall, Sitaya Fagan, and USC's other luminously talented first-year players be able to play like they belong on the floor against a college basketball powerhouse such as South Carolina? Will Lindsay Gottlieb be able to win the chess match against Dawn Staley? Will Jazzy Davidson and Kennedy Smith play with more freedom against the Gamecocks after facing them twice last season without JuJu and the other talented first-year players on this new USC roster? These and other questions are intensely interesting. However, unlike football, this women's basketball game is at the start of the season, so a USC loss - if it happens - would be properly seen as a learning experience, not as a defining moment within the season. Football is in a must-win position. Women's basketball is trying to grab an important win but knows that learning from the experience is valuable, regardless of the result.

USC football versus the defending national champion and Curt Cignetti.

USC women's basketball versus the defending national runner-up and Dawn Staley.

USC is going up against the best in two different sports this weekend. How will reality look and feel like on Monday morning in Los Angeles?