Four games into the season, the Bruins have already opened with a historic start.

But Saturday will bring about their toughest task so far, as No. 21 UCLA football takes to the skies up north to jostle with No. 13 Oregon at Autzen Stadium. The former Pac-12 rematch will be the team’s first since 2024, and the Ducks are the Bruins’ first ranked opponent in 2026.

Coach Bob Chesney has recent history in Eugene, having lost to the Ducks in the first round of the 2025 College Football Playoffs 51-34 in his last game helming James Madison before taking the lead seat in Westwood.

“It was dark. It was a night game. It was cold. It was loud. It was all those things,” Chesney said. “There weren’t a lot of games being played overall in the football world, so there were a lot of eyes on that. They did a great job. Their fans were really involved. They were loud. They did everything the right way.”

And that familiarity rings true for a large chunk of the roster too.

Chesney was joined by his top two coordinators as well as 11 players on his trip across the country, all of whom were part of the JMU-Oregon postseason affair.

“It’s loud,” said senior defensive back Derrick Barksdale. “Oregon is a very great environment. They got the duck that rides out on the bike on the field. It’s definitely a college environment that you want to experience, so it’s fun, and I’m excited to play there again.”

To prepare for Autzen Stadium – which has seen over 115,000 fans in attendance across two home games so far – the Bruins have practiced with a speaker blasting at maximum volume during live action to simulate the anticipated noise in Eugene.

Fifth-year offensive lineman Hall Schmidt said that during practice, a speaker is lined up behind senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava before slowly drifting to the line of scrimmage to follow the action.

“We’re working on silent cadence, for sure,” Schmidt said. “Yesterday, we had a speaker in the huddle, which was very helpful. … But other than that, we just got to play our game. Football is football, no matter where we are. We don’t have a magic potion to beat Oregon, but we definitely have ourselves, and we have the tools that we’re going to use.”

Further aiding UCLA’s prep for the Week 6 matchup was time. The Bruins are coming off a bye week after beating Maryland 54-3 on Sept. 26 and returned to practice Sunday, where Chesney said the team had a strong scrimmage and an opportunity to better scout out the Ducks.

Despite coming into a game ranked for the first time since October 2023, the Bruins are not letting themselves get distracted by past and current accolades.

“We put up the No. 21,” Chesney said. “If you pay attention to this number, it’ll go away. If you pay attention to what you did to get that number – and only focus on that and improve that – maybe the number even gets better.”

Barksdale added that while the game feels like a rematch, 2026 presents a new year with a new team for UCLA, with the squad intending to attack the matchup the same way it has done to open the season.

This mindset stays true despite Oregon’s starting quarterback, Dante Moore, remaining up in the air following a concussion in the team’s most recent game against USC. Nebraska transfer Dylan Raiola – a former five-star recruit – subbed in against the Trojans, throwing two touchdown passes.

“Of course, they got their different strengths and weaknesses, but our defense is going to run our game plan at the end of the day,” Barksdale said. “We’re going to get after them and play our man you see on the field in recent games. So we’re not going to change our game plan too much, but we’re definitely going to adjust some things.”

Despite the recent history between Chesney and Oregon, there is significant mutual respect between two ranked West Coast squads.

After Moore was hit hard and carted off the field Sept. 26, he was taken to a Los Angeles hospital, with Chesney texting Oregon coach Dan Lanning to offer to visit the signal-caller and provide support.

“It’s never a comfortable feeling getting on a plane or a bus leaving someone behind,” Chesney said. “In this profession, that’s probably one thing we share is the idea of being a team. … I just wanted to make sure if he needed, he knew I was there.”

Outside of injuries, Lanning also compared the Bruins to the 2025 national champions, the Indiana Hoosiers.

But regardless of the expectations placed on the Bruins, the squad intends to enter Eugene with the same passion and chip on its shoulder it has carried all season.

“They know what they don’t want people to say about them,” Chesney said. “They fight every single day to make sure no one has that platform or that voice to be heard. That’s what stands out to me is their true commitment to this, the love they have for this game, the love they have for their teammates.”