TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -When Dennis Erickson took over at Arizona State, he told his players how much fun it is to play and coach in games with national implications.

Some day, he said, he hoped to show them what it's like.

Some day has arrived in Erickson's first season in the desert. The seventh-ranked Sun Devils play host to No. 11 Southern California on Thanksgiving night in a game that could determine a Rose Bowl berth.

``I told them that I hoped that I could take them to places like this, where they would have this opportunity, and it's here,'' Erickson said at his weekly campus news conference on Monday. ``It's going to be fun for them, and it's fun for me to watch them react to where they're at right now. That's the fun part of coaching.''

Erickson, who is 27-16 against ranked opponents, added: ``Now, playing USC, I don't know how much fun that's going to be.''

The meeting between the Sun Devils (9-1, 6-1 Pac-10) and the Trojans (8-2, 5-2) grew in importance when Oregon was upset at Arizona last Thursday night after star quarterback Dennis Dixon sustained a season-ending knee injury.

If ASU beats USC and archrival Arizona, the Sun Devils will guarantee themselves at least a trip to Pasadena, and they'd have an outside shot at the Bowl Championship Series title game.

A loss wouldn't eliminate the Sun Devils from the Pac-10 race, but they would need USC and Oregon to lose again.

If USC wins, the Trojans would need Oregon (8-2, 5-2) to drop one of its last two games, against UCLA and Oregon State. The Ducks defeated both ASU and USC, giving them the Rose Bowl tiebreaker over both schools.

Picked to finish fourth in the Pac-10 by media assigned to the conference, the Sun Devils find themselves in contention for the Rose Bowl despite having no impressive victories to their credit. Their most notable win is over California, which has slipped to 6-5 after being No. 2 in October.

They have a chance for an attention-grabbing victory against USC in a nationally televised game. The Trojans aren't as dominant as they've been in recent years, but they remain among the national elite. USC's two losses came by a total of eight points to Stanford and Oregon.

ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter said he grew up watching football on Thanksgiving, and he always dreamed of playing on the holiday. Facing the fabled Trojans adds luster.

``Fortunately for us, we're going to get a chance to be the national game on TV that day and play in front of pretty much the world, really, or the United States, actually,'' he said. ``It's going to be a lot of fun, and we look forward to it.''

The Sun Devils' hopes were bolstered by Carpenter's return to practice on Sunday. Carpenter has a sprained thumb on his throwing hand, and he had to come out of ASU's last game at UCLA because he couldn't grip the football.

Carpenter injured the thumb handing off to tailback Keegan Herring against Cal on Oct. 27. Carpenter said he's resigned to playing in pain for the rest of the season.

``It hurts taking a snap because that's where the ball hits on that part of your thumb,'' he said. ``Handing off with my right hand doesn't feel good, and throwing - all those things.

``It hurts, and I'm going to play until I can't any more, I guess,'' he said. ``Hopefully I'll make it through the U. of A. game.''