SF Chronicle: Baseball still on Jackson's mind

CAL NOTEBOOK

Rusty SimmonsSome players took Monday off, but DeSean Jackson spent part of the day watching video of the Bears' next opponent, Arizona State.

It would be tough to challenge the sophomore's focus on football, but he admitted Tuesday that he has allowed himself to think about a few off-the-field things, too.  At least, off the football field.  "I'm really focused on football right now, but I'm thinking about playing baseball this year," said Jackson, who was almost as decorated a baseball player as he was a football player at Long Beach Poly. "It's something on my mind right now, but I'll probably wait until after the season to decide."  Jackson hit .380 and stole 20 bases his senior year, and he was considered the third-best all-around athlete in the Major League Baseball draft prospect pool in 2005 by Baseball America. Teams knew it would take a huge signing bonus to keep Jackson away from football, so they passed.

He passed on starting his collegiate baseball career last year, but that could change in the spring. In between scoring touchdowns in five consecutive games, Jackson said he has found time to visit the batting cages.  "Football has always been my favorite sport, but baseball is something I like to do, too," he said.  

In the trenches: Arizona State leads the nation with 18 sacks and is second with 32 tackles for a loss, and the Sun Devils will be going against an apparently beat-up Cal offensive line.  Starting right tackle Scott Smith (knee) is expected to miss about three weeks, and coach Jeff Tedford said starting left tackle Andrew Cameron (ankle) is about "50-50."  So the Bears are in trouble, right? No so fast.   "I feel like the offensive line's depth is one of our strong points," sophomore quarterback Nate Longshore said. "They are all just as sharp as the guys in front of them. I'm confident in whoever can play."  

Conference opener: Tedford couldn't exactly put his finger on a specific difference, but he knows practice will change as the Bears prepare for Saturday's conference opener.  "I don't know how to explain it, but there's something about Pac-10 play," he said. "I don't want to say, 'Now it's for real,' but there's definitely something a little bit different about conference play."

Read the entire article here.