: Moshofsky Center: Full padsAmong the sources of frustration for the Oregon football team the last several weeks has been the inability to translate productive practice sessions into success in games.Head coachand his staff had some concerns late in the week before the loss at Nebraska, which kicked off the Ducks' current four-game losing streak. But since then, players and coaches alike have expressed confidence in Oregon's preparation — and then disappointment when it hasn't shown in losses to Colorado, WSU and Washington.The Ducks' next shot at ending that trend comes at California on Friday (7:30 p.m., ESPN). Because for the fourth straight game week, the UO staff seems pleased with the team's preparation so far. The goal is to make practice tougher than games, and Helfrich believes that's being accomplished, for the most part."That's one thing that our guys have — not 100 percent, but you're never 100 percent — but the vast, vast majority of guys have bought into, and have trained to that level," Helfrich said Tuesday in his weekly pregame press conference with local media. "Now it's a matter of, 'hey, when you're going against this guy who's a fifth-year senior and you're a redshirt freshman, or there's 50,000 screaming people — whatever the situation — you execute exactly how you practice.' That's it. That's all we need. Nothing more, nothing less."Helfrich called the Ducks' bye week "productive," and said the team got "healthier physically, healthier mentally." That latter point may be as important as any, for a squad looking to see its work throughout the week pay off in games.A win this week, regardless of the opponent, would do "immeasurable" things for Oregon's confidence at this point, Helfrich said. Asked what attitude he wants to see in order to achieve that end, Helfrich deferred to the various personalities on the team."I want them to compete their tails off," he said. "Some guys need that edge, of anger; some guys need to play loose and confident. Guys are different. They're all individually crafted. We want to play together and fight our butts off. Those guys have done that, to a large extent."Helfrich acknowledged that the Ducks are missing some injured players who had been expected to set the tone in the locker room.is a respected figure who is out for the year after knee surgery; linebackerand receiverare two other hard-working, vocal players not presently in the mix, due to injuries suffered at Washington State."That's where we as coaches and some other voices have to step up and fill those voids," Helfrich said.Nothing would assure the Ducks like a win, however. Friday at Cal is the next chance to get one, and the next chance to make Oregon's hard work in practice pay off in a game.: The defense dominated clutch situations for the second straight day. With the offense needing to drive to a field goal,and the ones got just past midfield when timed expired, andhad a fourth-down pass tostopped short of the first-down marker with the twos. … The full team period between the travel squad was a spirited few minutes.shed a blocker at the line and brought down a running back for little to no gain, continuing his solid week of practice.evadedin the backfield and made some yardage, although Dye recovered with tackles for loss on back-to-back plays later in the same series. …That period also included a big-time decleater byon a screen pass, and a fumble recovery by. … The travel squad also faced off in 1-on-1 pass drills inside the red zone. Herbert had beautiful touch passes to Brooks-James andfor touchdowns. Prukop connected withon a fade route (I know, I know …) anddid the same to, despite really tight coverage by: Apelu has made an impressive return after missing the first few games of the season. He's consistently in the mix for reps with the first team, across various packages. …is another guy who looks all the way back after missing time to start the season. He also got some first-team reps today at guard, and could fill in just about anywhere at this point. … The very last play of the day featured an Odell Beckham Jr.-like catch from, who legitimately may have the best hands on the team. Watch him in warmups some time; he makes one-handed catches look routine. This one was a leaping, one-handed grab way over his head, while still getting a foot down inbounds before falling out of bounds.Junior receiver