Oregon may have just wanted to provide fans inside Autzen Stadium with some pre-game entertainment.

Or the person at the controls of the stadium’s videoboard has been keeping up with recent news and wanted to troll Oregon State a bit before Friday night’s Civil War gets rolling.

The Ducks put the Michigan State-Penn State game on the videoboard inside Autzen during pregame warm-ups. Reports emerged shortly before kickoff Friday night that Oregon State head coach Jonathan Smith has become the primary target in a Michigan State coaching search that is expected to be finalized by the end of the weekend.

The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach reported Friday evening that Smith is the “top target” for the job. Auerbach also reports that while nothing has been finalized, the search is “in its final stages” and is expected to be complete before the end of the weekend.

Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes released a statement earlier this week that claimed he was in talks with Smith on a contract extension and an increased assistant coach salary pool. Smith has been linked to the Michigan State vacancy for several weeks.

He acknowledged in a radio interview with John Canzano that his agent has been tasked with “finding out what is out there.”

Oregon State is 8-3 heading into the annual rivalry game with Oregon. The Beavs won this matchup a year ago in Corvallis, pulling off an epic second-half comeback to stun the Ducks and knock Oregon out of the Pac-12 Championship.

Oregon is in the same spot entering Friday night’s game. Win and the Ducks will play for the Pac-12 crown. Lose, and they could get shut out again. Plenty to play for, and Autzen Stadium figures to provide an edge.