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          Oregon's Phil Knight tribute leads best Week 4 college football unis

          Oregon football's Week 4 uniforms pay homage to Nike co-founder and Oregon alum Phil Knight. GoDucks/X
          • ESPN staffSep 18, 2025, 04:53 PM ET

          Nike co-founder Phil Knight's connection with the Oregon Ducks is legendary, and the Ducks are paying tribute to him in an appropriate fashion with a uniform this week.

          Oregon has donned many, many uniform combinations through the years as part of its partnership with Nike, with its latest offering honoring the man that made that connection happen: Knight.

          Entitled "Shoe Duck" -- a play on Knight's 2016 memoir titled "Shoe Dog" -- the uniform goes with an anthracite theme as the base color for the jersey and pants. Gold is also well-represented on the uniform, featured on the helmets, name plate and number outlines and cleats.

          The helmet marks the most detailed element of the tribute, with a number of nods to both Nike and the school featured throughout the lid. A matte marble design makes up the base, with a set of asymmetrical wing designs on either side. One wing represents the Ducks' mascot, while the other represents Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.

          In addition to Oregon's "O" logo, the back of the helmet contains a gold bar that honors Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman's army service in World War II and "JUST DO IT" in block letters.

          The Ducks, who will square off with the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday in a rivalry clash, aren't the only school bringing the heat with their uniforms this weekend. Here are the top uniforms from around the country in Week 4 of the college football season.

          Gold isn't an easy color to go all-in on in a uniform combination, but the Charlotte 49ers have pulled it off for their Week 4 uniforms.

          The 49ers will take the field on Thursday night against the Rice Owls in style, rocking a look that features a gold helmet, gold jersey and white pants. A white brick pattern adds a nice detail as a center stripe on the helmet, while green serves as the outline for the jersey's "Charlotte" stitching and numbers.

          Saturday will mark the final Iron Skillet matchup for the foreseeable future between the SMU Mustangs and TCU Horned Frogs, and the Mustangs are looking to see out the rivalry with a win in style.

          SMU will be pairing a classic all-blue jersey and pants combination with a distinctive helmet -- the team's alternate Dallas-themed lid, which portrays the team's mustang logo in the center of an enlarged "D."

          The Utah Utes will host the Texas Tech Red Raiders in Week 4, in a ranked contest that marks each team's first chance to make a major statement in the Big 12 title race.

          In a uniform selection that matches the magnitude of the contest, Utah is bringing out its "Ute Proud" look, featuring a number of intriguing elements. In addition to an all-red jersey and pants combination, the uniform features a distinctive number font as well as a helmet that contains Ute tribe-inspired patterning.

          The Liberty Flames have put forth a strong run of uniforms thus far in the 2025 season, a streak that they'll continue with their matchup on Saturday with the James Madison Dukes.

          The combination this week for Liberty will take a blue-on-blue theme, with two shades of the color featured in the Flames' uniforms. Dark navy serves as the base for the helmets, jerseys and pants, while a bright light-blue shade pops in the number outlines and script lettering on the helmets and jerseys.