The Oregon Ducks--having moved up to the number two ranking in the polls--have closed practice to the media and public during their bye week.

Head coach Chip Kelly broke the team's silence, only for the weekly Pac-10 coaches' teleconference. He asserted that the team's silence is not due to the improvement in ranking.

“We don’t shield our team. I think our kids can read whatever they want to read. I don’t talk about that,” Kelly said. “But they also know that it means absolutely nothing. You can just look at Alabama; they were the No. 1 team in the country and they lost. Now they’re the No. 8 team in the country...I know our kids can read the paper, I know our kids can read the Internet. But we don’t need to discuss it. Because it means nothing.”

The statuses of Kenjon Barner and Darron Thomas--both injured in last week's game at Washington State--are not known due to the team's silence.

***
This week's USC-California game will feature a matchup of apprentice and mentor.

Current California head coach Jeff Tedford was the offensive coordinator when Lane Kiffin was a backup quarterback at Fresno State. When it was clear that he would not see major playing time with the Bulldogs, Tedford suggested that Kiffin become a graduate assistant.

Kiffin has parlayed that ultimately into his current gig at USC. He gives a lot of credit to Tedford in his development into a head coach.

"I was very fortunate to be in the meeting room with him all the time," Kiffin said. "He was the coordinator, but he coached the quarterbacks too. I learned a ton from him before I ever got started in coaching."

- Fred Sakai