Civil Wars are meaningful anyway, but this one could be for the second most prestigious bowl game in the modern era for the Oregon State football team.

Both teams are playing for third place in the Pacific-10 Conference and the winner could be on the way to the Holiday Bow in San Diego with the way the postseason shapes up for the conference.

It still depends on other games, but the biggest hurdle for the Beavers reaching that game is beating Oregon in Autzen Stadium for the first time since 1993.

“The Ducks are the Ducks,” senior OSU cornerback Gerard Lawson said. “We have to win the Civil War. If we come out and win that game, that’s already money.”

After Oregon’s recent struggles due to the season-ending knee injury to star quarterback Dennis Dixon, this could be the year the Beavers (7-4, 5-3) win on the road.

The Ducks (8-3, 5-3) are on a two-game losing streak, lost backup quarterback Brady Leaf to ankle injuries and used their fourth and fifth string quarterbacks to no avail in Saturday’s shutout loss at UCLA.

“This is our biggest game of the year, and Oregon is still a good team,” OSU quarterback Lyle Moevao said. “We just have to play ball and the rest takes care of itself.”

The winner of the Civil War still needs help this weekend to reach the Holiday Bowl, which usually invites the second-place Pac-10 team. Southern California must beat UCLA and Arizona State must beat Arizona.

Both those outcomes are likely, but not guaranteed with the way games have gone this wacky season throughout college football.

USC would go to the Rose Bowl and second-place Arizona State should be selected as an at-large team for the Bowl Championship Series games with their victories. The Fiesta Bowl would be most likely.

The third-place team would be selected by the Holiday Bowl, with the loser of the Civil War probably headed to the Sun Bowl.

“It doesn’t matter to us where we go, just as long as we get to a bowl game,” Lawson said. “That was our priority before the season started. We want to win games, and if it turns out we are playing for the No. 2 bowl or the No. 4 bowl, we just want to play.”

If either USC or Arizona State lose their final game of the regular season, that would give them a third loss and likely be Holiday Bowl bound. The Civil War winner then goes to the Sun Bowl and the loser to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.

If both USC and Arizona State lose, UCLA would go to the Rose Bowl with a 7-5 record, but 6-3 in conference. USC and Arizona State would fill out the Holiday and Sun Bowls.

Under that scenario, the Civil War winner heads to the Emerald Bowl and the loser drops into the Las Vegas Bowl.

“I try not to pay attention to this stuff, but you catch stuff here and there,” senior OSU defensive tackle Curtis Coker said. “We go week to week and do our best, and things pan out for themselves.”

OSU won the Sun Bowl last year, but has never been to the Holiday Bowl. The 2001 Fiesta Bowl is the highest-ranked postseason game the Beavers have been in since their resurgence began in the late 1990s.

The Sun Bowl payout to each team is $1.9 million. It’s $2.2 million for the Holiday Bowl.

The Ducks have been to the Holiday Bowl in 2000 and 2005. After such a strong start and high expectations, the season would be a disappointment going to that bowl game.

Winning the Civil War for the Ducks cushions the blow, while winning for the Beavers makes their rival a steppingstone in the program’s development.

All those residuals, however, are easily forgotten. To the players, it’s just a must-win game whatever the situation.

“You just win,” Coker said. “You work hard and expect to win. And if you don’t, you don’t. Thinking about what all the things that could happen are all distractions. If you have that in your head you are not focused on playing.”