One week after pulling a Freaky Friday act, the Oregon State Beavers and UCLA Bruins meet in Corvallis with a springboard on the line.

In a Pac-12 conference filled with heavy hitters, both the Beavers and Bruins follow their Saturday showdown with schedules that resemble the path from CandyLand more than the crushing crucible that much of their league-mates are experiencing.

Consider Arizona’s slate: The Wildcats travel to No. 19 Washington State on Saturday fresh off close misses against Washington and USC. Then after the Cougars comes a bye, followed by a month that includes Oregon State, UCLA and Utah at home and Colorado on the road.

Or how about the Wildcats’ Territorial Cup rivals Arizona State? Before their season finale showdown with the Cats, the Sun Devils follow their bye this week with road games at Washington, Utah and UCLA and home tilts with Washington State and Oregon! All in the next 5 weeks!

And then you’ve got UCLA and Oregon State.

The Bruins’ road after the Beavers? At Stanford, vs. Colorado, at Arizona, vs. Arizona State.

And the Beavers’ road after the Bruins? A bye followed by trips to Arizona and Colorado before returning to Corvallis to play lowly Stanford.

In other words, get over the hump that is Week 7, and it’s smooth sailing for a month.

*****

If you watched UCLA’s spectacular defensive performance last week and then took in the Beavers’ bravura offensive showing later in the day against Cal, you could be forgiven for confusing the teams.

There was Jonathan Smith and the Beavers looking more like Peak Chip Kelly, with DJ Uiagalelei having his most prolific day in an OSU uniform in a 52-39 win over Cal, throwing 5 touchdowns to fend off a surprisingly feisty Bears offense.

And there was Kelly, leading a Bizarro Bruins squad that tore Cam Ward and the formerly prolific Washington State offense to shreds. The 2nd-ranked Cougars passing offense — 2nd ranked, nationally! — managed just 204 yards and Ward was sacked 3 times and picked twice, while the Bruins also recovered 2 fumbles.

This was an identity flip of the highest order.

And Smith sees it himself.

“They’re long, athletic, and they can really affect the passer from the edge,” he told reporters this week. “They’re as good of pass rushers as we’ve seen. … A new scheme this year, but they’re sound and it’s impressive to watch.”

Kelly was similarly complimentary to the Beavers offense.

“I think their whole offense is a strength; they just put 52 on a really good Cal defense,” Kelly said. “(Cal coaches) Justin Wilcox and Peter Sherman can coach defense. They were rolling in the game they put up 35 on Washington State, their only loss of the season, but they’re balanced. I think DJ played really well. I think the play-action game off of the running game is something that you really got to be prepared for because you just can’t gang up on the run game. It’s a complete offense, and you have to defend everything. This is big boy football.”

Big boy football for one week.

Then comes big blah football for a month.

*****

Not that they’re complaining.

Not with what looms.

Beginning in Week 12, the fun could be over for both teams.

UCLA travels across town in the season’s penultimate weekend to tussle with a USC team that, while struggling defensively, still boasts one of the most prolific offenses in the country, led by the returning Heisman Trophy winner, Caleb Williams. Then the Bruins return home to play Cal in another important rivalry clash.

The Beavers, though, have it even worse. Week 12 offers a visit from Washington and its remarkable passing attack, followed by what used to be called the Civil War matchup with an Oregon squad hungry for revenge after Oregon State won in Corvallis last year. The big problem for the Beavers? They’ve won just once in Autzen Stadium in the past 3 decades (2007).

With those title showdowns on the horizon, both teams understand the importance of a Week 7 statement, one that thrusts them forward.

For Oregon State, it will come down to how Uiagalelei handles UCLA’s pressure. Laiatu Latu, Darius Muasau and the Murphy Twins lead a front 7 that ranks among the top in college football, and Uiagalelei hasn’t looked great this season with the walls caving in. Before scorching the Bears for 5 scores, the Clemson transfer had 3 straight games with just 1 touchdown throw, after he threw for 5 scores against San Jose State and UC Davis to start the season. The 3 stumbling blocks? San Diego State, Washington State and Utah, and DJU had 3 scores and 4 picks in those games.

“We know very well of him because he was at (St. John) Bosco and was a tremendous quarterback,” Kelly said. “Jonathan has done a really good job of putting him tremendous situations. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s physical. I think he’s their 3rd-leading rusher, also so he can beat you. And they have some designed quarterback runs because he’s a big guy to take down and has good speed.”

UCLA quarterback Dante Moore has similar splits against good/bad defenses, and he’ll play a good one in the Beavers on Saturday. Similarly for the Bruins, Moore’s ability to stand tall against a crafty and veteran OSU defense is paramount.

Smith isn’t just worried about Moore, though, but Kelly.

“He’s always evolving, but it was comes back to running the ball,” Smith said. “Watching him on tape he’s got new wrinkles each week, they’ve played with pace for years, and he might have been the innovator of going fast. He’s tough, he’s going to gameplan to throw some new wrinkles you haven’t seen and they’re tough to defend.”

“He’s got our full attention.”

And that’s exactly what it will take this weekend.

Full attention, if not extra from both sides.

Why not? Who else are they saving it for? Arizona? Colorado?

The time is now for both programs. And then let the coasting begin.