Glad for the talk about the Duborskian Rice, finally motivated me to plant mine yesterday. little late, but
should still harvest by October.
To the OP's question, I think the only issue would be heat units during the growing season. You say Zone 8 and I think hot, sunny weather. But Pac NW is neither. I am zone 6, but have a warm growing season June-Sept.
I would think that if you can grow good corn, then short season dryland rice should work as well. Give it a try, not much to lose.
Plugs are just individual cell trays for starting seedlings, rather than a basic flat. I used a 128 cell plug tray. If you are unfamiliar, check out the seed starting trays at Johnny's Seeds.
Go Rice!