LOS ANGELES — The sight left Keary Colbert a bit perplexed.



The former USC wideout (and the Trojans’ current receivers coach) remembers the rides to the team hotel in downtown Los Angeles back in 2002. He remembers looking at the same thing every Friday night before Trojans home games: Oregon receivers Samie Parker, Keenan Howry and Jason Willis plastered on a billboard the Ducks’ athletic department had raised money to put up in downtown Los Angeles.



“I just kind of remember the first time seeing it, like, ‘Wow. Really?’” Colbert said. “It was like somebody putting up their flag in your territory.”



Seventeen years ago, Oregon was still in the process of creating its identity and building its brand. The Ducks, who sit atop the Pac-12 North and are No. 7 in the latest AP poll, don’t have any unavoidable billboards in Los Angeles these days, but they are still trying to make a major push into the...