In our "4 & Go!" series, The HillTopics will connect with a beat writer for SMU's upcoming opponent and ask four questions about the team. Additionally, the beat writer will provide the "Go!" -- a bold prediction, statement or final thought to leave the readers.

This week, No. 18 SMU visits Temple in an American Athletic Conference matchup. To hear more about the Owls, we've reached out to Kyle Gauss, assistant editor and beat writer for OwlScoop.com.

Starting quarterback Anthony Russo is out for Temple this week. What does that mean for the Temple offense?

Russo is dealing with an AC joint sprain, similar to what New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold dealt with earlier this year. The hope is that he'll be able to return later this season, but for this week, he's definitely out. As for what it means for the Temple offense, it's not great.

With Russo at the helm, Temple was the No. 37 team in the nation in total offense, and while the Owls struggled to score in the red zone, they were able to make enough big plays to score at least 29 points in each of the first three games. Without Russo, Temple put up three points and 222 yards of offense against a mediocre Tulane defense.

You'll see Temple continue to alternate between redshirt sophomores Trad Beatty and Re-Al Mitchell, a transfer from Iowa State, until one of them takes full control of the job. Mitchell is the more elusive of the two, but Beatty probably has a better understanding of the full offensive playbook at this point in their career.

If Beatty and Mitchell repeat the performance they had against Tulane, this could be a long, long game.

Temple seems to be stuck in neutral with a 1-3 record. What does a home game against a ranked opponent in SMU do for this team's psyche?

No disrespect to SMU, but I think Temple is so focused on trying to figure out what went wrong -- on both sides of the ball -- against Tulane that the Owls probably aren't getting too high or too low when it comes to SMU. I'm not even sure if I'd categorize the Owls' momentum as neutral. I think it's trending downward at this point in time.

For the first three games, Temple could at least hang its hat on knowing that it was probably three or four plays away from being 3-0. Then the Tulane game happened and Rod Carey's program was, simply put, dominated on both sides of the football.

If the Owls can somehow patch together a win against SMU, then it's obviously a huge momentum boost, and it would provide a sliver of hope in this abridged season. But there's a reason that SMU is a heavy favorite in this game. At this point, Temple might just be hoping to show signs of improvement against a superior opponent.

Defensively, what -- or who -- will be the key for the Owls in containing Shane Buechele and SMU's offense?

Coming into the season, the strength of this retooling Temple defensive was the interior of its defensive tackle. The Owls were returning all-conference-level talent in Ifeanyi Maijeh and Dan Archibong, as well as an exciting young prospect in Khris Banks.

So far, through three games, the production from those DT spots has been up and down. Banks shined earlier in the season, and Archibong had a solid game against Tulane, but Maijeh's production just has not been there so far this season.

Last year, Maijeh had 5.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss en route to being named an all-AAC selection. This season, he has just eight tackles, zero sacks and zero TFL. Against Tulane, he failed to record even a tackle.

If Temple has any chance against SMU, Maijeh, Archibong, Banks and Arnold Ebiketie need to be disruptive against an SMU offensive line that is No. 34 in the nation in sacks allowed.

What did the team learn most from a 38-3 setback to Tulane last week?

Not a whole lot of good. On offense, I think the loss cemented how entrenched a healthy Russo is as the starting quarterback, as the dropoff in production at that position was apparent.

The offensive line, which had been a strong point of the offense until Saturday, also struggled immensely. If there's a sliver of positivity to take from the game, it might be the defense, despite the fact the Owls gave up 38 points. That defense was completely patched together.

Due to a combination of COVID contact tracing and conventional football injuries, Temple only had 54 scholarship players in New Orleans, and the majority of those absences came on the defensive side of the ball. In the loss, Temple rotated in true freshmen at defensive tackle, safety and cornerback but still managed to force three turnovers and two three and outs in the first three quarters. Eventually, Temple's lack of depth became apparent, and the Owls gave up touchdowns on the final four Tulane drives of the game.

GO!

The big news of the week for Temple, of course, is that sophomore running back Re'Mahn Davis decided to opt out of the remainder of the 2020 season and enter the transfer portal. Davis, who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards last year, was off to a much slower start this season and publicly voiced his displeasure after a 10-carry, 15-yard day against Tulane.

Without Davis, Temple will rely on a former walk-on in Tayvon Ruley and a redshirt freshman in Edward Saydee that enters Saturday's game with six career carries. So now Temple will enter Saturday starting backups at quarterback, running back, tight end, and possibly right guard on offense.

The defense is equally, if not more, depleted with key absences at all three levels. That's not a great combination for a team going up against a 6-1 opponent. Simply put, this is a Temple team that's in flux and is looking for a lot of answers. Matching up against a very solid SMU team on Saturday is going to be quite the challenge for the reeling Owls.

Reach Kyle Gauss via Twitter