Oregon Ducks back in black for Fright Night redux

The theme is "Create the chaos." There's a touch of diamond plate on the shoulders and the helmet is mallard green with dark wings. Matayo Uiagalelei, the five-star edge rusher from St. John Bosco in Bellflower, California, is the uniform model.

Wednesday Oregon revealed its uniforms for Game 11, a Top 15 showdown with 8-2 USC, a battle for a playoff spot. The winner remains in the bracket. The loser heads to the ReliaQuest Bowl, Citrus Bowl, or worse.

Black shoes with a silver swoosh, white numerals with green trim complete the look. On October 31, 2009 Oregon shredded No. 5 USC 47-20 in Autzen Stadium. LaMike James ran 24 times for 183 yards and a touchdown. Jeremiah Masoli passed for 222 yards and a score, kept the ball 12 times for 164 yards and a touchdown.

SC couldn't handle the pace. It was 24-17 at halftime but the Ducks broke away with 17 points in the third quarter to lead 41-20. Safety T.J. Ward picked off Trojan quarterback Matt Barkley at the end of the game, stopping a last-ditch drive at the goal line, sliding down at the 10.

On Fright Night, Ducks became kings of the PAC-10

"There's a new king in the PAC-10," Brent Musburger said as the clock went to zero. Autzen was LOUD from whistle to whistle that night as the Ducks beat Pete Carroll and the Trojans after losing four of the previous five in the series.

Under Carroll, the Trojans had won championships in 2003 and 2004 (later vacated,) lost a classic to Texas in 2005. They'd finished in the AP Top Ten seven straight years from 2002 to 2008. The loss to Oregon in 2009 relegated them to No. 20 and the Emerald Bowl.

Facing sanctions, Carroll left for the Seahawks in January 2010, winning the Super Bowl in 2013-14.

Sixteen years later, the roles are reversed. Oregon is in the Top Ten for the third straight year, 44-7 under Dan Lanning. He needs two more wins to tie Chip Kelly's career mark of 46-7, the best winning percentage in Oregon history. The Ducks have won three in a row in the series and five of the last six.

They are a 9.5-point favorite in Saturday's game, 12:30 p.m. PT at Autzen Stadium on CBS. It won't be a night game due to TV windows, but the energy of hunter versus hunted remains, albeit in different jerseys.