USC fans don't view Oregon as a rival, but it's time to beat the Ducks

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USC fans will tell you Oregon is not a rival. The Trojans have a boatload of national championships and stacks of Rose Bowl victories. Oregon doesn't have a single national title, which makes USC fans say the "O" stands for the number of Duck championships. Trojan fans call Oregon the "zeroes" for good reason. Yet, while USC fans shrug off the notion of a rivalry, Oregon has treated this series very seriously, as Paolo Uggetti of ESPN wrote:

"There are perhaps more historic villains for the Ducks than USC, especially when you consider their biggest regional rival up in Seattle. But since the turn of the century, Oregon has been chasing down the Trojans. In this modern era of college football (since the College Football Playoff's inception in 2014) and especially since Pete Carroll left USC in 2010, Oregon has been the more accomplished program yet still gets perceived — particularly by USC with its longstanding history — as a new-money winner. That's not necessarily incorrect, but while USC seems to hold on to the past glory of its teams and often prioritizes tradition, Oregon has tried to do things its own way — sometimes with flash and speed and now, under Dan Lanning, with a kind of approach that puts the Ducks at the vanguard of the sport. That's why every time the two have faced off over the past few years, something beyond a simple victory seems to be on the line. Those in Eugene want to beat USC because, for so long, it was the paragon of the Pac-12, the bully and the giant to tumble. Now? The Ducks might find themselves in a similar position."

It's time for the USC football team to value beating Oregon as much as the Ducks have valued beating the Trojans.

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This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: USC fans don't view Oregon as a rival, but it's time to beat the Ducks

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