SF Chronicle: Forsett comes up a yard short of a grand season

CAL NOTEBOOK

Bruce Adams, Chronicle Staff Writer

Las Vegas -- Near the end of Cal's win in the Las Vegas Bowl, tailback Marshawn Lynch began pestering coach Jeff Tedford. The Bears were running the clock out, with quarterback Steve Levy kneeling with the ball. Lynch wanted to see his backup, Justin Forsett, carry the ball. Tedford said he thought the win was more important. And as a result Forsett finished the game with 37 yards -- one yard short of achieving a 1,000-yard season. "It's a little disappointing," Forsett said. "But my team goals go way beyond my individual goals." As for the support from Lynch, who crested the 1,000-yard season mark in the Big Game, Forsett said, "We're like brothers." Lynch, meanwhile, was low key in accepting the trophy as the game's Most Valuable Player. "I'll give it to my mom," he said. "I feel they (his trophies) mean a lot more to her than they do to me." And as for his own 194-yard rushing performance, he gave all credit to the offensive line. "I was just running behind the front five," he said.

Levy souvenir: At the end of the game, Levy ran off the field with the ball in his hands. Outside the locker room he was mobbed by three high school teammates from Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey. He gave one of them the ball and told him to find his mother, Angela, and give it to her.

Record crowd: Attendance was announced at 40,053, easily the largest crowd ever at a Las Vegas Bowl. The previous high was 27,784 set last year when Wyoming beat UCLA. Overall, it was the third largest crowd ever at Sam Boy Stadium, home to UNLV.

Mendenall's perspective: BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall was proud of his team's second-half comeback, overcoming a 21-point deficit to still be a threat in the closing minutes. "The end result is we played good enough to lose by seven," he said. "The disappointing aspect is it was a loss. The positive aspect is that we exhibited resiliency."

JC transfers: Two junior college transfers have signed letters of intent to play at Cal -- defensive end Rulon David, from Mt. San Antonio College, and center Mark Gray, from El Camino Community College. Both will begin classes in January and be eligible to join the team at spring practice. High school recruits can sign letters of intent until Feb. 1.

Briefly: Lynch's season rushing total of 1,244 is third best in Cal history. ... Rover Donnie McCleskey finishes his career with 258 tackles, eighth on the Bears' all-time list. ... Cal's 96-yard scoring drive in the third quarter was the longest of the season.