In their upcoming stretch, the Cardinal will play three home games in seven days, against No. 25 Southern California, No. 3 UCLA and perennial force Gonzaga.

“This is where it really picks up, I guess,” freshman center Robin Lopez said during the Cardinal’s weekly press conference.

The importance of the stretch varies depending on whom you ask. Sophomore forward Lawrence Hill called it the “make-or-break” part of the men’s basketball season (12-5, 4-3 Pacific-10 Conference), while head coach Trent Johnson acknowledged that each of the games will be like facing a pro team.

But everyone agrees that it’s not going to be easy.

“This will prove where we’re at,” senior guard Fred Washington said. “It’s going to be a tough stretch. We’re going to have to man up and get ready to play.”

The games will begin tonight against a defensive-minded USC team (15-5, 5-2) that has crept into the national rankings for the first time in nearly five years. Under second-year head coach Tim Floyd, the Trojans have tightened the screws on opponents, holding 18 of the 20 teams they’ve played below 40.4 percent shooting from the field.

“They’re great athletes with great quickness, and they’ve really bought into the system,” Johnson said. “The hardest thing to do is to get talented kids to buy in because they’re usually looking to score. They have good quickness, and they get in your face.”

USC has been able to put things together this year after a string of seasons in which it fielded talented teams that failed to win ballgames.

The team’s attack features three perimeter players who are as good as any guard tandem in the league: juniors Nick Young and Gabe Pruitt, and senior Lodrick Stewart.

The Trojans have also benefited from favorable scheduling, playing five of their first seven games at home. The team has hung with every club it has played in the Pac-10. Only two last-second shots separate it from a perfect conference record.

By comparison, early favorite Washington has all but been bounced from the Pac-10 race after losing all five of its Pac-10 road games to start the conference schedule at 1-6.

After Pruitt was ruled academically ineligible for the first 11 games, Young took over as the team’s leading scorer with 17.2 points per game. Stewart, a sharpshooter who made six three-point attempts in a game earlier this season, ranks second on the team in scoring with 13.9 points.

Although Pruitt’s scoring dropped from 16.9 points per game to 9.7, he has by many accounts assumed more of a leadership role this season, especially important after the death of point guard Ryan Francis in a drive-by shooting during the off-season.

“I can’t imagine losing a player,” Washington said of Francis’ death. “We were all just speechless. I can’t even begin to imagine what they’re going through, but I’m glad they’re pushing through.”

USC has been aided by the early development of freshman point guard Daniel Hackett. It has also received a huge boost from forward Taj Gibson, an early front-runner for Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. Gibson is averaging 13 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Stanford, on the other hand, has come out on top in six of its last seven games against the Trojans at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal escaped with a narrow 58-56 victory last season, when Chris Hernandez made two free throws with four seconds left.

“Each possession was like a fist fight with them,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to talk about will and all that nonsense, but you find out what you’re about in a game like this [and] what you’re made of.”

The Cardinal will begin to find out when they tip off at 8 p.m. tonight.