It’s Washington week, and that means the game carries a bit more of… well… everything in Eugene.

Some coaches will play the “nameless, faceless opponent” card when they approach matchups that carry a little extra emotion around them. They’ll preach to their team and in the media that a rivalry game is just something for the fans, that no game is more important than another, and that they can’t get caught up in the emotion of it.

Oregon does not like Washington. Washington does not like Oregon. It’s as heated a rivalry as we have in college football. Sometimes you just have to embrace it.

Several times on Saturday, Lanning stressed that you can’t make the game more than what it is, but he also understands the significance of the matchup.

“I think it’s pretty apparent this is a rivalry game coming up. I guess we could pretend like it’s not, but it matters,” Lanning said. “Does that mean we prepare different? Do we treat it like a different situation? No. If you go out here and play the circumstance or the event rather than the game, you’re not going to be able to play to your ability.

“But do I acknowledge there’s a rivalry coming up? Absolutely. Do we have a plan of preparation and a way we want to execute? Absolutely. I have a lot of respect for that team we’re about to play. They’re playing really good football right now.”

The Huskies are 7-2 under first-year coach Kalen DeBoer. They’ll enter the matchup ranked No. 25 in the College Football Playoff rankings. On top of the emotion, Oregon will have its hands full with the most prolific passing attack in college football.

“Generally for us, we want our pads to talk. And that’s the plan. We hit the grass, our pads are going to do the talking,” Lanning said. “This game means a lot to us. I’ve got a lot of respect for Kalen, he’s one of the winningest coaches in college football. He’s had a lot of success. And he’s kind of done it the hard way. Came up from a small school and worked his way up and really busted his tail to get where he’s at. So, there’s a lot of respect on my end for him and the job that he’s done. That being said this is a game we want to win and I know how important it is to all Duck fans.”

Lanning has certainly done his homework in that regard.

“No love lost. That’s really clear,” Lanning said. “And that’s something that’s exciting. It makes games like this fun. I’m getting to talk to some former alumni that have played here — Coach Bellotti, Dan Fouts, guys that I’ve been able to kind of link up with and just communicate with on what this game has been like over time. It’s been exciting for me because this game means something to people, not just our players. Our players are gonna go out there and execute every single game, but it means something to people outside of that arena.”

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. PT on FOX this Saturday.