Once rumored to be a candidate for the job that Dan Lanning eventually landed as Oregon's head coach, Eugene native Justin Wilcox brings his Cal squad to Autzen Stadium for presumably the final time for the foreseeable future. The Bears enter Saturday's matchup having lost four of their five Pac-12 matchups so far this season including a 1-point loss to USC last week in Berkeley.

Cal (3-5, 1-4 Pac-12) is onto its third quarterback of the season with second-year freshman Fernando Mendoza making just his second road start Saturday.

The Ducks (7-1, 4-1) have a slight one-game edge in the all-time series (42-41-2) but have dominated the matchup as of late with wins in 12 of the previous 14 games between the two teams.

You have to go all the way back to 2007 to find the last Oregon loss to Cal at Autzen Stadium.

The Ducks head into the final month of the regular season in prime position to earn a spot in the Pac-12 Championship game, and our Duck Sports Authority staff covers all angles of the latest matchup and delivers predictions in the weekly staff roundtable.

Scott Reed: With increasing talk of how good Oregon is – and whether they are headed toward an inevitable rematch with Washington in the Pac-12 Championship Game with a College Football Playoff berth on the line, it would be easy to go with the standby complacency. Add in USC coming to town next week and this is a direction I think a lot of people go – but I am going to zag while others zig. I am worried about the running game. Jadyn Ott is by far the best running back Oregon will have seen this year and it really is not close. Cal has said he will play. If he does that is a completely different Cal team. Ott is a big play waiting to happen and can make plays against even the best defenses. Oregon has not really seen anyone like his this season and they will have to be disciplined in their gaps and solid in their tackling technique. A missed tackle on Ott could be six the other way.

Brandon Gibson: With all the positive press the Ducks have been receiving it could be possible that the players start believing the “hype” and become less focused on the task at hand. Teams can have off games and allow teams that otherwise shouldn’t be in it, to have a fighting chance. Fortunately for the Ducks, I think that Dan Lanning has seen what is needed from the coaching staff to keep a team focused and playing at the highest level from week to week. It requires setting goals against yourself, and playing to improve every week. Lanning admitted that last week against Utah was his proudest moment as a coach, as the Ducks played their first “complete” game against Utah, and now come the question of, can they repeat that level of execution for a second week in a row? Having the home crowd should definitely help, and Oregon is certainly blessed with depth not seen on other teams in the Pac-12.