Kalen DeBoer will coach in his 107th game on Saturday when No. 8 Oregon visits No. 7 Washington.

To this point in his career, DeBoer has a 0.896 career win percentage as a head coach. That’s a better career win rate than Kirby Smart. Before he was a D1 head coach, DeBoer was one loss away from four straight NAIA national championships with Sioux Falls. His team played in the NAIA semifinal game in Year 1, and then it appeared in the championship game every year thereafter until DeBoer departed.

It was at a different level, but in some ways, football is football. DeBoer has proven very early in his career that he knows what it takes to produce winning football teams.

That experience certainly helps when you’re preparing for a game that is as big as the one the Huskies are about to play this weekend.

“Just be who you are,” DeBoer said of what he’ll draw on from his past experiences. “Make sure you don’t forget about your identity, your DNA. Whether it comes to schemes or personality as a team (or) individually I think you’ve just got to be who you are and just get locked in on the preparation.

“All the hoopla is gonna happen and then we’re going to get on the field and it’s going to be another football game. That’s really what’s going to happen.”

DeBoer said he’s not worried about his team when it comes to preparation for a week like this. Sometimes there’s a question of whether a coach has to rein in energy, but DeBoer also has a veteran team that has taken care of its business each week to create an atmosphere like this.

“When you’re really giving it everything you’ve got and it means so much to you, the excitement or even if you want to call it pressure around it, it can’t be above and beyond what you already have invested in this thing,” he said. “Our players, our coaches, that’s the way we look at it.”

This will be the first matchup in the 100-plus-year history of the series where both Washington and Oregon enter the game ranked inside the AP Top 10. Energy won’t be an issue. DeBoer expects Husky Stadium to be rocking.

“I think there is another level, and I’m excited to see it this weekend,” DeBoer said of what the fanbase can bring to the game. “We need Husky Nation in Husky Stadium giving everything they’ve got. Our guys are going to do the same.”