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Bears not in the position they expected to be when facing USC

Three losses have made preseason talk of Cal in the BCS a distant memory.

Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz

Issue date: 11/8/07 Section: Sports
Jeff Tedford slammed his headset into the ground, realizing it was all over.

The clock had expired on both the Cal coach and his national title dreams. Seconds earlier, his team driving and within range of the game-tying field goal against Oregon State, Tedford elected to attempt one more pass play for the win.

Kevin Riley, starting for the first time in his career, pulled down the ball and ran. Unable to stop the clock, the Bears could not try the kick before time ran out. A day that had started with the possibility of then-No. 2 Cal earning the top rank ended with the Bears becoming the latest in a string of upset victims.

The loss sent the Bears reeling and sparked a three-game losing streak with losses to UCLA and Arizona State to follow. In each game, the Bears sprinted to an early lead, only to run out of gas at the finish line.

Even after a 20-17 win against Washington State that broke the losing streak, the sting lingered.

How did this fall from grace happen to the team that was supposed to have the inside track to a Pac-10 title following USC's loss to Stanford?

"I think more than anything, it was external with everyone talking to them about what was supposed to happen," Tedford said. "Now that it's gone away, at least of the whole national picture thing, maybe it's a little bit easier for them to deal with because they don't get hammered every day now about what's gone wrong."

No one knows the highs and lows of Cal's season better than wide receiver DeSean Jackson.

Coming into the year, the junior from Long Beach, Calif., was touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate. With Tedford assuming the play-calling duties, it appeared as though Jackson's role would be even greater than it was the previous year.

"He will do it the right way, and I'll just be in the right position for us to win games," Jackson said at Pac-10 Media Day in July.

Jackson had a quiet first four games for the Golden Bears as a receiver, never gaining more than 45 yards during that span. But fans remained quiet as their team racked up 41.5 points per game in the first four games.
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