After turning the page after a 38-36 win over Stanford, Oregon coach Mark Helfrich looked towards his next opponent. It took only moments for him to realize the challenge USC would pose this weekend.

“The trick, after such an emotional game against a great opponent, is to get ready against a very, very talented team,” Helfrich said on Sunday, “and you flip on the tape and you’re quickly slapped at how good USC is and our guys will be excited for that challenge.”

Before the season, the Nov. 21 matchup between Oregon and USC was built up as a potential College Football Playoff decider. Both teams were ranked in the AP preseason poll’s top 10. Oregon was ranked No. 7, while the Trojans stood one spot behind at No. 8.

Both teams have seen peaks and valleys on their way towards Saturday’s game. Both teams have a record of 7-3, each riding a four-game winning-streak into Autzen Stadium.

For Oregon, losing quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. to a broken finger earlier in the year resulted in a 3-3 start for the Ducks. Oregon is 4-0 since Adams returned from his injury.

For USC, it was bouncing back from a change at head coach midway through the season. Since former head coach Steve Sarkisian was fired on Oct. 12, and replaced by interim coach Clay Helton, USC is 4-1.

“I think both teams have had some obstacles to overcome this year … both teams are hot right now,” Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost said. “Both teams are probably looking back at some games earlier in the year and wishing they could have them back.”

The Trojans were dealt another blow this past week, losing starting linebackers Cameron Smith and Lamar Dawson to injury for the rest of the season. Still, Helfrich doesn’t think losing those two defensive starters will affect the Trojans.

“Those guys are both phenomenal players that played extremely well, but unfortunately [for us] they have very talented guys behind them,” Helfrich said.

Though both teams have taken two different roads of adversity to get to this point, Saturday’s game will still have implications on the line — just not those of the National Championship, like the preseason may have suggested. If Oregon wins out, and Cal beats Stanford this weekend, the Ducks will represent the north in the Pac-12 Championship game. USC, on the other hand, needs to beat Oregon and UCLA the following week to represent the south in the conference title.

“I know it’s two talented teams that will be playing on the field Saturday,” Frost said.

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Sunday marked Oregon’s return to the Associated Press Top 25, slotting in at No. 23. It’s the first time Oregon is ranked since losing at home to Utah, 62-20, on Sept. 26.

Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich talked to the media on Sunday after the ducks beat No. 7 Stanford 38-36 on Saturday.

The trajectory of this team has been on the rise, constantly improving. Today, being ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll, do you guys take that as any confirmation that you’re playing your best football right now?

Not really. I don’t think we ever look at someone else’s impression of us as validation either way. I think the biggest thing is our guys have come to work every night, like we talked about last night, and owned what is good and what is bad and went about their business. And now the trick is, after such an emotional game against a great opponent, is to get ready against a very, very talented team and you flip on the tape and you’re quickly slapped at how good USC is and our guys will be excited for that challenge.

Is it gratifying, as a coach, to see your team turn it around from 3-3?

Well, you can’t sit here at any point, take a breath and be satisfied with anything. whether it’s academics or all the other things that happen behind the scenes, you’re constantly trying to get better at your job and everybody else’s deal. I don’t think there’s a time, really, again, ever, in this business where you sit back and say, ‘We’re done. We’re good.’

What about players? Do you think they have any different level of appreciation for victories the last weeks given what they went through?

That’s the total — and we talked about this last week — the total belief and commitment to a process is when you work at that process without a tangible result — without a positive tangible result — and that’s commitment. When you’re committed to a process and things aren’t great — it’s just like raising kids. Sometimes you have to do things that aren’t great but you know that it’ll benefit them down the road. So, it’s an easier sell maybe to an 18, 19-year old kid to go, ‘Oh, OK, that does work. You know?’ It helps you win, get a good grade, do whatever, but hopefully we’re in this for the long haul.

Darren Carrington has been such a big part of your offense for the last month. Were you surprised at how fast he made a connection with Vernon Adams Jr.?

Vernon kind of has that chemistry with everyone. The broken play — the playground type of play that those guys have made a ton of — and he and Darren have hooked up big time.

Back at Pac-12 media day, you said you did not want to see this USC team. They’ve gone through some similar obstacles this year. Is still the same team you were som impressed by in August?

They are exceptional. The skill guys, everywhere, I think there are so many guys, very similar to Stanford, guys that we tried to recruit so there’s a lot of familiarity with who they are. [Cody] Kessler is a tremendous player. Their defense is getting better and better. They’ve had a couple, whatever you want to say, hiccups…They’re outstanding in every phase of the game. Adoree’ Jackson is their Charles Nelson. He plays offense, defense, plays special teams and does it all at a very high level.

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Parity has been a common theme in the Pac-12 this year. This past weekend’s games was the epitome of this theme.

All three of the conference’s ranked teams, including No. 7 Stanford 38-36 loss to Oregon and No. 10 Utah’s double-overtime loss in Tucson, Arizona, lost on Saturday, inevitably dashing any hopes of the conference having a representative in the College Football Playoff.

Here’s how the rest of the conference’s games played out in week 11.

USC 27 —Colorado 24

An exciting slate of conference games got off to an good start on Thursday night. USC (7-3, 5-2 Pac-12) rebounded from a two-score deficit in the first half, to hold back an upstart Colorado (4-7, 1-6 Pac-12) team, 27-24. Cody Kessler’s three touchdown passes in the second half, and a blocked field goal by Trojans defensive tackle Delvon Simmons was the difference.

Colorado lost the game, but the Buffaloes also lost starting quarterback Sefo Liufau for the rest of the season. Liufau was replaced by Cade Apsey in the second quarter, and it was later determined that Liufau would have surgery. Liufau is expected to return in six-to-eight months.

Arizona 37 — No. 10 Utah 30

Arizona’s (6-5, 3-5 Pac-12) Anu Solomon was on the bench and backup quarterback Jerrard Randall was off to a 0-for-4 throwing start as the second overtime started against Utah. So, of course, Randall threw a 25-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the team’s second overtime possession to Nate Phillips for the game-winning score. Utah (8-2, 5-2 Pac-12) had a chance to respond, but a fourth down pass into the end zone from Utes quarterback Travis Wilson ended up incomplete.

Washington State 31 — No. 19 UCLA 27

Washington State (7-3, 5-2 Pac-12) quarterback Luke Falk had been crawling on the grass at the Rose Bowl earlier in the game in obvious pain. But Falk stayed in, and with three seconds left, he threw a game-winning touchdown pass to Gabe Marks to beat UCLA (7-3, 4-3 Pac-12). Josh Rosen led the Bruins to a lead with 1:09 left in the game, but Falk and the Cougars responded. UCLA out-gained Washington State 554 to 426 on the night.

Arizona State 27 — Washington 17

Arizona State (5-5, 3-4 Pac-12) cameback from a 17-point deficit to score 27 unanswered points and beat Washington (4-6, 2-5 Pac-12) 27-17 at home on Saturday. It was the Sun Devils’ largest comeback in five seasons. Washington quarterback Jake Browning got off to a fast start, but he threw three second-half interceptions to aid the Arizona State comeback.

California 54, Oregon State 24

California (6-4, 3-4 Pac-12) and quarterback Jared Goff snapped a four game losing streak, beating Oregon State — the only winless team in conference play — 54-24. Goff completed 26-of-37 for 453 yards and six touchdowns in the rout of the Beavers. The combination of Nick Mitchell and Marcus McMaryion finished 15-of-36 for 194 yards and two touchdowns at quarterback for Oregon State (2-8, 0-7).

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– On Thursday, there were two commitment announcements, in two different sports, Oregon fans were paying attention to. In the end, Oregon received a commitment from one high-profile recruit, while they saw another join a conference rival.

The morning started with Ryan Kelley, a four-star quarterback out of Chandler, Arizona, who was the top uncommitted quarterback in the 2017 recruiting class, pledging a verbal commitment to play his college football at Oregon.

But later on, T.J. Leaf, a five-star power forward and the No. 2 basketball recruit in the state of California, chose UCLA for his college destination over San Diego State and Oregon.

– For some recruits, Wednesday was National Signing day. The Oregon women’s basketball team, and coach Kelly Graves, secured the nation’s No. 6 recruiting class in 2016 with six new incoming players. Men’s basketball also signed two players while receiving a verbal commitment from another recruit.

– The women’s basketball team also played on Wednesday, beating Warner Pacific 99-46 in a preseason exhibition game.

– The Oregon volleyball team fell to No. 2 USC in straight sets on Wednesday, also.

– The Emerald released its weekly “GameDay” issue on Thursday. Stories include a look at the role reversal between Stanford and Oregon, defensive lineman DeForest Buckner’s draft stock, social media reaction with the team, a look at Heisman Trophy candidate Christian McCaffrey and a take from the Stanford Daily on why Oregon will lose to the Cardinal.

– Daan Maasland has become Oregon tennis’ “strongest player.”

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They were well aware of the malicious chatter that can come from the angered pounding of computer keys. As much as members of the Oregon football team — a team that fell to 3-3 after a 45-38 double overtime loss to Washington State — did their best to not pay attention to it, they couldn’t completely ignore the noise on social media.

And there was a lot of it.

“It was a different start of the season than the fans or the media have seen,” Oregon senior offensive tackle Tyler Johnstone said. “Of course you’re going to have a bunch of people asking questions and jumping on the ‘Oregon sucks’ bandwagon, but we keep believing in each other, we keep pushing each other and we silence the noise.”

Since the loss to Washington State, Oregon has won its last three games. Subsequently, the noise on social media has changed its tune. The expectations for the team have changed, also. A return trip to the College Football Playoff is out of the question, but there’s still more on the line for the Ducks this season.

“It’s a matter of, ‘What do we want to be remembered by?’ ” Oregon center Matt Hegarty said. “I think preseason expectations go all over the place. But at a few points in the season things have gone all over the place, so I think we’re trying to solidify what people remember about this 2015 team — and that’s a team that competed and closed out the season the way they were supposed to.”

In recent weeks, fans have been more positive with players on social media. For some players, the back-and-forth nature of fans on sites like Twitter— where fans have an outlet of direct communication with members of the football team — is comical. Players share stories and laugh about it.

Oregon defensive back Arrion Springs remembers the time a fan tweeted at him, saying, “I don’t pay college tuition to watch Arrion Springs play football.” Springs said that same fan apologized to him last week. “So, we’re all good now,” Springs joked.

Oregon receiver Devon Allen has had similar experiences with fans on social media.

“One week, I’m the best football player in football history. The next, they think I should just stick to track,” Allen said. “That’s just how it is sometimes. You can’t really pay attention because people are going to say what they’re going to say. It’s not a big deal.”

With three games left in Oregon’s schedule, the “Oregon sucks” bandwagon that Johnstone mentioned from after the Washington State loss isn’t as full as it used to be. The team is on a positive trajectory and they want the fans to join them.

“I hate to sound disrespectful at all, but I always go back to the quote, ‘The lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinions of sheep,’ ” Hegarty said. “I’m a really positive guy, so if you’re not moving in that positive direction, then you’re kind of a sheep — and you tune those people out. Anyone that wants to be on board in a positive way, they can jump on board.”

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There’s a familiar tale being weaved in the late season matchup that is Stanford versus Oregon. Down at The Farm on Saturday, a top-10 team — equipped with an explosive Heisman Trophy candidate — looking towards the College Football Playoff, will face off against an upstart underdog, attempting to ruin any chance of a National Championship appearance for its conference rival.

In 2012, a redshirt freshman quarterback named Kevin Hogan led No. 13 Stanford past undefeated, No. 2 Oregon, 17-14, in a mid-November matchup.

In 2013, it was Marcus Mariota and the No. 2 Oregon Ducks with hopes of a national championship against No. 5 Stanford. The Cardinal derailed those dreams, once again, with a 26-20 victory.

This year, the script is flipped.

No. 7 Stanford is 8-1, has a Heisman candidate in Christian McCaffrey and is eying one of the four coveted spots in the playoff. The Cardinal’s only loss of the season came in week one against Northwestern. Oregon head coach Mark Helfrich called it a “major anomaly,” saying there was no magic formula to stopping Stanford after watching the film.

The Ducks, at 6-3 after a three-game winning streak, have the chance to do what their counterpart did to them twice over the last three years. Currently, Oregon opens up as an eight-and-a-half-point underdog against Stanford. It’s a role the team will have to adjust to.

“I know the kids are really excited to play this one,” Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost said. “It’s kind of neat that we’re going in as the underdog and the spoiler. And that’s a role our guys aren’t used to playing.”

“A modern day Gladiator fight”

There’s one member of Oregon who’s played the role of underdog against the Cardinal before. Two years ago, Matt Hegarty was in South Bend, Indiana, playing center for Notre Dame. And three weeks after Oregon’s loss to Stanford, Hegarty was down in Palo Alto, as No. 25 Notre Dame took on No. 8 Stanford. The Fighting Irish lost, 27-20.

Like Oregon, the matchup between Notre Dame and Stanford is a yearly routine. Hegarty remembers close games against the Cardinal.

“You’re sore the next day, that’s for sure,” Hegarty said. “They come ready to smack heads.”

Hegarty’s soreness the day after was a testament to Stanford’s simple mentality of trying to “out-physical and out-muscle” its opponents.

“It’s a modern day Gladiator fight,” Hegarty said.

Though Hegarty’s perspective is limited to what the Stanford defensive line has shown him over the past couple of years, he says their tough mentality can be seen throughout all phases of the Stanford team.

“On offense, they’re going to run it down your throat and they tell you, ‘We’re going to run it right here,’ ” Oregon defensive lineman DeForest Buckner said.

Buckner says he looks at Stanford’s confidence in the run game as a challenge. For a field filled with 22 players, the simplicity of the Cardinal’s offensive game plan, in year’s past, required toughness in one-on-one match-ups.

“It’s mano a mano, you and another guy — sometimes two other guys,” he said. “But yeah, this whole game is pretty much about toughness and pride.

“I’m not going to let another guy say he’s going to kick my behind and run it down our throat.”

“Wild Caff”

One thing Stanford didn’t have in its offensive arsenal two years ago was a Heisman Trophy offensive weapon, or, as ESPN’s Ivan Maisel calls Cardinal star Christian McCaffrey, something that “had been designed two miles down the road from the Stanford campus, in Elon Musk’s dream factory. Like a Tesla, McCaffrey runs fast, turns at top speed, and doesn’t make a sound.”

On Tuesday, the Stanford athletic department launched a site, promoting its “Wild Caff” for the same award Mariota won a year ago. When you open the site, McCaffrey’s numbers roll up faster than dollars at a gas pump: 2,174 all-purpose yards, 1,207 rushing yards and 325 receiving yards.

Helfrich called McCaffrey phenomenal, lauding McCaffrey’s versatility. Helfrich said McCaffrey’s playmaking ability, along with others on the Stanford offense, adds to an experienced group that Oregon is used to facing up front.

“I think he should take a week off,” Helfrich joked when asked how he plans to stop him. “Keep him healthy for the stretch run.”

“He’s still there, God Almighty” 

After Oregon’s 44-28 win over Cal last Saturday, defensive backs coach John Neal acknowledged who his team is going up against this weekend.

“I know it’s Stanford, I know how good they are,” Neal said. “[Kevin] Hogan is still there, he’s 100 years old.

“He’s still there, God Almighty.”

While the roles between Stanford and Oregon may have switched coming into Saturday, the presence of Hogan under center for the Cardinal hasn’t. Hogan, Stanford’s fifth-year senior starting quarterback, is making his fourth start against Oregon after going 2-1 against the Ducks in his previous three games.

“Hogan is a seasoned, senior quarterback in this conference,” Oregon defensive coordinator Don Pellum said. “He’s seen it all.”

In 2012, Hogan, inserted as the Cardinal’s starting quarterback after Josh Nunes was injured a week before, went into Autzen Stadium and beat the undefeated (10-0), No. 2 ranked Ducks, 17-14, in his first career road start.

“Kevin Hogan,” Buckner said, “he always has a great game against us. He can throw when he has time, and he can hurt you with his feet. A lot of times, guys don’t think that he can hurt you with his feet, but he definitely can.”

At 6-foot-4, 218 pounds, Hogan has cemented himself as a threat to run this season. In a 30-28 victory over Washington State on Oct. 31, Hogan out-rushed McCaffrey, 112 to 107 yards.

“They’re our biggest game, our biggest rival – whatever you want to call it”

Though an underdog in this year’s game against Stanford, with no National Championship in sight this time, Oregon is still playing for something. The Ducks are currently No. 2 in the Pac-12 North behind Stanford.

Oregon needs to win out, and hope Stanford picks up another conference loss, to represent the North in the Pac-12 Championship game.

“They are our game this week, so they’re our biggest game, our biggest rival – whatever you want to call it,” Oregon wide receiver Dwayne Stanford said. “For us to get where we want to go, we have to win out. This is the next step on that ladder.”

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On Oct. 29, after 742 yards of offense through regulation and two overtimes, the Arizona State offense found itself three yards away from tying Oregon at 61 with a chance to win the game. The Oregon defense had its back against the wall.

“We came together and said, ‘Someone has to make a play,’” senior Oregon linebacker Tyson Coleman said. “And that’s exactly what Arrion did.”

Sophomore defensive back Arrion Springs intercepted a pass from Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici to end last Thursday’s triple overtime thriller, 61-55. Springs’ interception was the second Oregon had against the Sun Devils — fellow cornerback Tyree Robinson had an interception in the fourth quarter— and the team’s ninth of the season.

“We were struggling in the run, so we had to step up and make a big play,” Springs said. “We had to get a pick, and we did. We could’ve had four.”

For last season’s National Championship runner-up team, taking the ball away, while not giving it up, was a key factor. Last season, the Ducks had a +23 turnover margin (+1.53 per game), taking the ball away from their opponents a total of 34 times in 15 games played. Eight games into 2015, Oregon (5-3, 3-2 in Pac-12 play) has a +4 (+0.50 per game) turnover margin while forcing a total of 15 turnovers.

A part of the smaller turnover statistics for the Oregon defense has been a marginally less number of fumble recoveries. Oregon has six through eight games after recording 22 through 15 games last season.

“Every year is different,” Oregon defensive coordinator Don Pellum said. “Obviously there have been some balls on the ground we haven’t got, and then maybe we haven’t done as good of a job at stripping, but that’s hard to say […]  We work on stripping and on tips and that stuff regularly.”

Forcing fumbles, in particular, isn’t something that just happens through the course of the game, Coleman says. “We have to go out there and take the ball. A lot of times, we wait for it to come to us, but the reality of the situation is you have to go out and get it.”

One statistic that Oregon looks at internally each week is “disruption rate.” The statistic records on how many plays the Ducks’ defense disrupted the opposing offense. Hurries on the quarterback, tipped passes, fumbles, interceptions and even disguising coverages, forcing a quarterback to call a timeout, are all labeled as disrupting a play.

“All that stuff matters at the end of the day for our defense,” Pellum said.

This Saturday, Oregon welcomes the California Golden Bears and quarterback Jared Goff to Autzen Stadium. Goff, who has thrown 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions through eight games, averages 38.6 passes per game.

Springs, who said he’s looked forward to playing Goff all year, is looking to add to the team’s turnover numbers.

“[Goff] is going to test me and I’m going to give him some work,” Springs said. “So we’re going to see how good he is and how good I am.”

You already know we’re trying to go get [interceptions]. We just got to make sure we catch them. He’s going to give us a couple opportunities, so we have to make sure we execute.”

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TEMPE, Ariz — Before I take you to Oregon’s fourth and goal from the nine yard line, with 23 seconds left in the game at Sun Devil Stadium, let me first take you back to the practice fields at Eastern Washington University.

It was four years ago, during a practice in his freshman season, where the nickname, “Big play V.A.,” was given to Vernon Adams Jr. Adams was running from the pocket, backwards about 20-yards, making all his teammates on the defense miss. He then rolled to his right, located an open receiver, and fired a touchdown pass.

“It was there everyone started calling me Big play V.A.,” Adams said after Oregon’s 61-55 triple-overtime win over Arizona State.

But after Adams’ performance Thursday night — in which he went 23-of-40 passing for 315 yards and four touchdowns — the graduate-transfer’s teammates gave him a new nickname. It was a testament to his seemingly impossible escapes from herds of blitzing Sun Devils defenders all night.

“Now,” Adams said with a smile, “it’s Houdini.”

A smile wasn’t something Adams could muster after Oregon’s 31-28 loss to Michigan State on Sept. 12. Instead, the Oregon quarterback with a broken finger on his throwing hand sat at the postgame stage and relayed a simple message to reporters.

“It starts with me,” he said over and over again. “I’m putting this game on myself. I need to be better.”

The spotlight was on, and “Big play V.A.” had a shot to show the country in his first major game with Oregon that he had what it took to succeed. He missed it, overthrowing an open Byron Marshall for a chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter.

A broken finger caused him to miss three of the next four games — he played against Utah but was pulled after completing two-of-seven passes for 26 yards — leaving the missed throw against Michigan State still fresh in his mind. He said it was tough for him. His teammates noticed, too.

“He’s a guy that wants to be the best,” Oregon wide receiver Bralon Addison said. “When he feels that he doesn’t play perfect, he puts himself in that place where he wants to be better. I think he’s a competitor — a true competitor.”

But after months of learning the team’s offense, Adams now feels a lot more comfortable.

“More so than I was (against) Eastern Wahsington and Michigan State,” he said. “And against Michigan State my finger was broken. But I feel really good now.”

An adjustment Adams had to make, aside from getting healthy, was learning to stay in the pocket. Coach Mark Helfrich made it a point with Adams during the bye week.

“He just needs to continue to trust the scheme a little bit and get his eyes in the right place, his feet in the right place, and then improvise,” Helfrich said. “That’s where a guy like that could be really lethal.”

Against Arizona State, Adams said he tried to stay in the pocket more. But he said he knew when he needed to escape, that he had the ability to do it.

A succesful scramble play is often two-fold. Adams needed to escape the pocket, but his receivers needed to get open too. Addison said it’s something they work on with Adams a lot in practice.

“We have a guy that can make people miss in the pocket,” Addison said. “He might seem like he’s wrapped up, but then he’s squiritng out of there.”

On fourth-and-goal from the nine-yard line, trailing Arizona State 41-34 with 23 seconds left, Adams pulled out a play reminiscent of one produced on the practice fields at Eastern Washington — the place where he became “Big play V.A.”

Adams dropped back, escaped the pocket, rolled right, and went backwards about 15 yards before locating Dwayne Stanford open in the end zone. He heaved it, and made the big throw to tie the game at 41 and send it into overtime.

In one play, Adams became Oregon’s version of Houdini.

“We have a quarterback out there who can be Houdini at any time,” wide receiver Darren Carrington said.

“It’s just exicting because you know whenever he’s out there, he’s going to make a big play. That’s why we call him, ‘Big play V.A.’ You have to always stay alive because the play is never over with him.”

Follow Joseph Hoyt @JoeJHoyt.