When Kelly Graves first arrived at Oregon, he took a "faceless opponent" approach to facing Oregon State.
Back then, the Beavers were just another foe for the rebuilding Ducks. They weren't to be treated with any more or less respect than anyone else.
Things changed after only a couple of years. Scores like 70-37 and 77-48 and 60-33 will do that.
Those were the results of Oregon's first three matchups with OSU under Graves. The Ducks were on the wrong side of them all.
"Now, I'm playing it as if it's obviously a rivalry game, and really, really important," Graves said this week.