Oregon visits Stanford at 4 p.m. Saturday with the Pac-12 North on the line. Here are five things to watch:

Stanford's defense: Oregon rolled up 777 yards of total offense in last week's win over California. The Ducks may not be back to Marcus Mariota levels, but they're certainly in their best form of 2015 -- and that's a scary proposition for any defense. Stanford's unit has lost the dominant status it held in the past three seasons, but the Cardinal have grown over the course of this year, and they're still pretty darn good. In fact, they're now tied with Washington for the Pac-12 lead in scoring defense, allowing 20.2 points per conference game.

Oregon is a fascinating test for this Stanford defense. The Cardinal pass-rush has improved over recent weeks, but containing the frantic Vernon Adams Jr. within the pocket will be a tall task, as will tackling Royce Freeman. It'll be fun to see the bruising Ducks running back collide with Stanford linebacker Blake Martinez, who leads the Pac-12 in stops. It'll also be interesting to see how Stanford's secondary holds up on the back end, especially if Adams buys extra time for his receivers to get open. -- David Lombardi

The connection between Vernon Adams Jr. and Darren Carrington: This is a situation in which the statistics won't tell the whole story. Most might look at Carrington's stats (three touchdowns, 344 yards, 14 receptions) and think they're not impressive. But consider that he has accrued those numbers through just three games. He came back from his suspension for the Washington game and has been on a tear since. While he was sitting out, he still caught passes from Adams and their connection has been obvious. And on no down is he better than third downs. Half of his catches have happened on third downs and he has tallied 223 yards on those catches. Statistically, that makes him the 25th-most valuable wide receiver on third downs ... and all 24 players in front of him have played between seven and 10 games. So, if the Cardinal can't put Adams and the Ducks in a tough situation on third downs, keep your eyes on No. 7 ... that's where Adams will be looking. -- Chantel Jennings

The battle between Christian McCaffrey and Royce Freeman: Chantel and I already debated this in depth here, but it is worth repeating on this list of things to watch, because it is the marquee matchup of the game. Stanford is going to try to control the ball like they did when they beat Oregon two years ago, albeit with more pizzazz -- this is a flashier Cardinal offense than before, in large part because of McCaffrey's explosiveness. And in a role reversal that certainly would have seemed strange two seasons ago, the Ducks are going to be using the 230-pound bell cow -- Freeman -- in an attempt to keep Stanford's offense off the field. The running back who sees more success in this game will also likely see his team win. -- Lombardi

The Ducks' secondary: Last weekend -- for just the second time this season -- Oregon started the same four players in the secondary in back-to-back games. Their secondary had played poorly (which is putting that kindly) through much of the season, but against the best quarterback they had faced yet, Oregon's defensive backs stepped up. The Ducks held Jared Goff to his lowest completion percentage of the season and his lowest adjusted QBR of the season. The Ducks' secondary is gaining confidence and it's not the same group that allowed 438 passing yards to Eastern Washington or 505 passing yards to Washington State. This is a group that's going to have growing pains, but it's also going to be making major strides. Kevin Hogan will have opportunities to exploit the youth there, but he also can't take that for granted. -- Jennings

The rivalry: Oregon-Stanford has developed a compelling back-and-forth narrative. When Stanford emerged from darkness in 2009, they upset the Ducks behind Toby Gerhart and Andrew Luck. Oregon returned the favor in 2010 and 2011, knocking Stanford out of a national title opportunity in both situations. The Cardinal then exacted their own revenge in 2012 and 2013, spoiling the Ducks' championship dreams in those seasons. In 2014, we saw a blowout Oregon win. What will 2015 bring? Only this much is known as of now: Stanford can clinch the Pac-12 North with a win, but given these two programs' history of ruining each other's parties, a Cardinal victory is anything but a foregone conclusion. -- Lombardi