Is this Brian Kelly's acceptance weekend? The unofficial moment that Kelly can lead his undefeated, No. 4-ranked LSU Tigers into 'The Vaught' and Ole Miss's venerable home to get another win against the ever-entertaining Lane Kiffin and the No. 13 Rebels?
Kelly's hardly gotten the embrace of Ed Orgeron down on the bayou, but this game -- and extending a perfect start that already includes notable wins at Clemson and against Florida -- could purchase Kelly some significant lagniappe.
Elsewhere, can James Franklin change his "big-game" narrative, be it warranted or not? Franklin is infamously just 4-20 all-time against AP top-10 foes, including a 3-10 mark at Penn State when both teams in a game are ranked in the AP's top 10.
Oregon is the sport's No. 6 team and looks every bit the juggernaut it did a year ago, when it was the first-ever No. 1 seed in the 12-team College Football Playoff.
Franklin's Nittany Lions are untested but ranked No. 3, at home and whipping up the atmosphere with a whiteout-game. Penn State is a slight favorite, and it boasts returning quarterback Drew Allar, as well as the star running back tandem of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
Experience and home-field favor the Nittany Lions, right?
Well, Oregon has burgeoning superstar Dante Moore at quarterback and FootballScoop's declared best motivator in college football, Top Duck Dan Lanning.
All the pressure is on Penn State in this game, or it gets remembered instantly for losing at home last year to Ohio State, to Oregon in the Big Ten Championship and to Notre Dame in a come-from-ahead loss at the Orange Bowl, which also was the CFP Semifinals and a chance for a berth in the CFP title game.
Team FootballScoop talks and writes through the weekend's biggest games, from Oregon at Penn State, Alabama at Georgia, LSU at Ole Miss and many more.
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