The 2018 season may have officially kicked off three weeks ago, but for the 20th-ranked Oregon Ducks, the rubber meets the road for real Saturday night when they take on the 7th-ranked Stanford Cardinal in their Pac-12 opener inside Autzen Stadium.

Ever since the 2018 schedule was finalized, those of us outside the program have circled September 22 as the day in which we find out just far the Ducks have come in their prospective journey back to the top of the Pac-12 and the ranks of the nation’s elite. It’s also provides us our first opportunity to legitimately assess the impact of Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal (beyond the recruiting realm) and whether or not the winning culture he has worked so breathlessly to instill has taken the desired foothold on this football program.

For the better part of the past decade, the head-to-head matchup between Oregon and Stanford has been the measuring stick game that has typically determined who wears the crown in the Pac-12 North division. This Saturday, those stakes return along with a healthy dose of national interest, as ESPN’s College GameDay comes to Eugene for the first time since 2014.

Below is your Stanford primer…

Stanford Cardinal

2018 record: 3-0 overall, 1-0 in conference
Last game: 30-10 win vs. UC Davis
Ranking: 7th in AP Poll/7th in Coaches’ Poll
All-time record vs. Oregon: 48-32-1
When and where to watch: Saturday, Sept. 22 at 5:00 p.m. (Pacific), ABC

Items of note:

• Oregon is 7-2 all-time when College GameDay visits Eugene. It’s also the third time GameDay has visited when the Ducks have hosted Stanford. The Ducks are 1-1 versus the Cardinal in those contests.
• Oregon has won 10 of its last 13 games against Top 10 opponents in Autzen Stadium
• Since 2011, the winner of the Stanford-Oregon matchup has five times gone on to win the Pac-12 North division
• In nine of the past 13 meetings, either Stanford or Oregon has scored at least 40 points

Five Stanford names you should know:

5. Paulson Adebo (CB)

Ever since head coach David Shaw assumed the reins of the Stanford program following the departure of Jim Harbaugh, two things have more or less remained constant: the Cardinal churn out powerful rushing attacks and they play rock solid defense. Entering Saturday’s game versus Oregon, everyone knows the name of Stanford running back Bryce Love, but few people could probably rattle off names of notable Stanford defenders. That could soon be changing, as sophomore cornerback Paulson Adebo appears to be a rising star in the Cardinal defensive backfield in his first season of action. At 6-foot-1 and 189 pounds, the former four-star recruit from Mansfield, Texas is a physical presence who makes life difficult for the receivers he matches up against. Through three games, Adebo is tied for second nationally in passes broken up (7) and ranks fourth on the team in tackles (16).

4. Joey Alfieri (LB)

The former prep star from Portland’s Jesuit High School will make his return to his home state this Saturday as one of, if not, the top player for the Cardinal on defense. Over the course of his three-year playing career at Stanford, Alfieri has established himself as a disruptive, playmaking force. As a sophomore in 2016, Alfieri enjoyed his best season in a Cardinal uniform to date, finishing the year with 51 total tackles, including 10.5 for loss, as Stanford finished second in the Pac-12 in scoring defense that season (20.4 points/game). This year he’s pacing a unit that currently sits atop the conference in scoring defense (7.7 points/game), leading the Cardinal in tackles for loss (4.5) and sacks (2.5) while ranking third in total tackles (18). Expect him to play with a little extra edge as he steps foot inside Autzen Stadium for the final time.

3. K.J. Costello (QB)

He may not have taken the job immediately, but it didn’t take long for K.J. Costello to overtake former Stanford and current Tennessee quarterback Keller Chryst for the starting quarterback job on The Farm. In 11 games last season (including seven starts), Costello posted encouraging numbers, racking up 1,573 yards through the air to go along with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 58.8 percent of his pass attempts. Through three games this season, Costello has demonstrated improved accuracy (61.4 completion percentage) and is already halfway towards eclipsing his touchdown mark from a year ago with seven. He’s also shown a propensity to throw it to the guys wearing different colored jerseys, as Costello has been intercepted three times this season. Still, the junior is a key component of the Stanford offense and will likely be the player who proves to be the X-factor for the Cardinal against Oregon. With a 7-3 record as Stanford’s starter, Costello will be seeking his first road win this Saturday in Eugene.

2. Bryce Love (RB)

It’s hard to make folks in Palo Alto forget about Christian McCaffrey, but in his first season as the full-time starting running back for the Cardinal, Bryce Love did his level best. As a junior last season, Love set fire to Stanford and national record books, breaking the school record for single season rushing yards (2,118) and 100-yard rushing games (12), while setting FBS records for most rushes of 50 yards or more (13), consecutive games with a 30-yard rush (13), and consecutive games with a 50-yard rush (11). The list of accolades for Love is also long and distinguished, as Love finished his brilliant 2017 campaign as a unanimous All-American, a Lombardi and Doak Walker Award winner, as well as a Heisman Trophy finalist. Simply put, he’s a video game player playing real-life football and is arguably the game’s most lethal offensive weapon. The Ducks can attest, as Love ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries in last year’s 49-7 mollywhopping at the hands of the Cardinal last season. A slow start to the 2018 season (and his hopefully return from an apparent concussion suffered against USC two weeks ago) has Love no. 2 on this list, but he really should be 1A. If healthy, count on Love playing a critical role in the outcome of Saturday’s game.

1. JJ Arcega-Whiteside (WR)

The guy that should be giving Oregon defensive coordinator Jim Leavitt restless nights leading up to Saturday’s game is Stanford wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside. Standing 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Arcega-Whiteside is a matchup nightmare for opposing cornerbacks thanks to his great size and uncanny ability to box out and outmuscle defenders for jump balls, which makes sense, as both of his parents played professional basketball overseas. Known primarily as a redzone threat early in his career, Arcega-Whiteside is proving to be that and much more. Last season, Arcega-Whiteside enjoyed a breakout season, leading the Cardinal in receptions (48), receiving yards (781), and receiving touchdowns (9). This year he’s on pace to shatter each of those marks having tallied 13 catches for 324 yards and five touchdowns through three games, showing expanded skills as an all-around receiver. Teamed with other big bodied receiving targets such as tight ends Kaden Smith and Colby Parkinson, Arcega-Whiteside provides Stanford with what is perhaps the most difficult passing attack to defend against in the conference. Look for Costello to target the Inman (S.C.) native early often come Saturday.