Game week officially begins when Oregon returns to the practice field on Monday, but it actually started about one week earlier than that.

The 11th-ranked Ducks split Tuesday’s practice between fine-tuning their schemes and preparing for Saturday’s showdown against No. 16 Auburn in Arlington, Texas. By Wednesday, coach Mario Cristobal said focus was closer to 75 percent on the Tigers.

“We are in full-game mode,” Cristobal said following Friday’s practice. “Usually for the first game, game week is 10 or 11 days.”

Oregon will release its depth chart early in the week, but Cristobal said some of the spots remained uncertain heading into the weekend.

“Some things are shaking themselves out and they look like they are closer than what they have been, but we are not ready to put that out there,” he said. “Whenever we get a final one, we meet with the players first, but we are getting closer. A lot of those battles have proven to be beneficial, guys have gotten better and more detailed. Guys have improved at their craft so we are pretty close.”

Fall camp began 29 days before the opening game.

“We’ve been ready to play,” senior linebacker La’Mar Winston said. “We don’t enjoy hitting our teammates, it’s not fun. We are excited to see some different players and have an opportunity to execute.”

Oregon has won its past seven season-opening games by an average of 38.4 points against overmatched opponents like Bowling Green, Southern Utah, South Dakota and Nicholls.

The last season-opening loss was also at AT&T Stadium against a Southeastern Conference foe when fourth-ranked LSU beat the Ducks 40-27 in 2011.

“Normal game preparation,” UO offensive line coach Alex Mirabal said. “We don’t want to make it anything more than what it is, a first game.”

This first game will feature more national hype than any game the current group of Ducks have ever played.

“I can’t wait,” Oregon defensive lineman Austin Faoliu said. “We are all just focused on the little things that matter the most when things get tough there.”