Seattle Times: WSU football notebook: Harrison faces test in Cal

By Craig Smith

Seattle Times staff reporter

Washington State running back Jerome Harrison continues to rank No. 2 in the nation in rushing, but his streak of nine consecutive 100-yard rushing games could be in jeopardy Saturday night. That's because No. 25 California (5-2, 2-2 Pac-10) has made it a habit this season of throttling opponent standouts. Last week, Oregon State's Mike Hass took a nine-game streak of at least 100 receiving yards to Cal and was held to four catches for 17 yards in a 23-20 OSU upset victory. Washington running back Louis Rankin rushed for 112 yards against Air Force then was held to 38 yards on 13 carries against Cal. UCLA running back Maurice Drew entered the Cal game averaging 77.8 yards but was held to 65 yards on 15 carries. Despite being on a two-game losing steak, Cal leads the Pac-10 in scoring defense (17.6 points allowed per game) and total defense (316.4 yards). Harrison rushed for a career-best 260 yards in Saturday's 44-41 overtime loss to UCLA and averages 160.8 yards per game. He trails Memphis' DeAngelo Williams, who averages 180.5 yards. Harrison has rushed for 1,001 yards this season. The Washington State season record is 1,637 set by Rueben Mayes in 1984.

NOTES

• Cal, which has lost in back-to-back weeks to UCLA and Oregon State, hasn't had a three-game losing streak since the 1-10 season of 2001, which was one year before coach Jeff Tedford was hired.

• The Cougars have a four-game winning streak over Cal and have won seven of the past nine games and nine of the past 11. Cal's last win in the series came in 1998 in Berkeley (24-14). The teams didn't play each other in 2003 and 2004. A 48-38 Cougars victory at Cal in 2002 was WSU's first step toward the Rose Bowl that season.

• Washington State is the only Pac-10 team that Tedford hasn't defeated as a head coach.

• Cal true freshman DeSean Jackson, who played his prep football at Long Beach Poly, has caught 15 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns in the past two games.

• The Bears are a young defensive team, with only four seniors — all starters — on the top two units of the depth chart.