This is the weekend we get to see who the Oregon Ducks really are.

Heading into the season, the Oregon Ducks vs. USC Trojans matchup looked like a pressure cooker for USC. The Trojans were entering a make-or-break point this year, and this game on the schedule was supposed to tell us whether or not USC is legit.

But it’s turned into the inverse as we finally approach this game on Saturday. Following the Week 2 loss to Oklahoma State, everyone is looking at Oregon to see what this team is actually made off against a top opponent. And despite the preseason concerns, USC enters this matchup with a perfect 4-0 record.

USC’s young talent is the X-factor going into Saturday

The Trojans are undefeated, but it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. Their defense has been tested a couple times, and it’s very clearly a work in progress. The No. 1 question I have is whether we’ll see some breakout performances from the true freshmen for USC. Is Trent Mosley going to be back? I think he’s a key piece here. We can talk about tight end Mark Bowman. And then there’s Luke Wafle. Is he going to be able to break open that Oregon offensive line that got mauled by Oklahoma State? I think he’s one of the biggest X-factors in this game.

On the offensive side, I expect USC to be able to move the football. We saw Jayden Maiava and his receivers last year be able to move against a much better Oregon defense. And even though there are a lot of returning pieces on that Oregon defense, you don’t have the same defensive coordinator. Maybe USC is able to win in a shootout. But, I’m still taking Oregon.

The Oklahoma State loss could be a blessing for Oregon after seeing how that team responded

And you may say, Tegan, Oregon just lost to Oklahoma State two weeks ago. How are you picking them here? But as gross as it is, I think the punch in the mouth from Oklahoma State is actually going to help Oregon in this case to be one of the most prepared teams entering this week. Just look at how they responded last week.

I think they’re the more talented program. I think they have the better quarterback. Do I think they’re going to outright dominate this game? No. But I still have so many questions about this young USC team, and it’s a lot to ask for them to step up in this moment.

I’m going to trust the team that I think has more talent, but this is a really tough game to call. And I know I’m not going to be the only one expecting a bounce-back performance from Oregon. This could easily be the breaking point, though. And we’ve talked about it before: in this world of college football, if you’re going to be like the Penn State and Clemson of last year, you could see how quickly those wheels fall off. Maybe USC is much further along than we all anticipated.

But I’m taking Oregon. The talent gap is real, and sometimes a loss like Oklahoma State is the kick in the rear a program needs to lock in for the rest of the season.