Rusty Simmons, Chronicle Staff Writer
The Cal coaches and players are sick of the comparison. "I don't see that there was any more attention than any other week," coach Jeff Tedford said. "I think the Tennessee game was like that because the hype built for so long through the summer, but this was just another week for the guys." They're seeing only what they want. In reality, ABC had Brent Musburger, Bob Davie and Lisa Salters at Thursday's practice, and, in playing No. 11 Oregon (2-0 Pac 10, 4-0 overall), Cal is facing a team with authentic Bowl Championship Series hopes for the first time since it opened the season in Knoxville, Tenn. "We know how important this game is, but we have to view it as a normal game," receiver Lavelle Hawkins said. "If we play hard and fast, we'll be fine." Few question that the Cal players gave it their all in a disappointing loss to Tennessee in early September, but even the Bears admit they got caught up in the fanfare surrounding the game. "I was too excited," Hawkins said. "This game has to be viewed as a regular game. We have to forget the cameras and the TVs. We have to just go out and have fun." Cal's most vocal leader, linebacker Desmond Bishop, has parroted that sentiment all week.
"We all know what's at stake, but we're trying to treat it like any other game," he said. "Our intent is to win, have fun and do everything necessary to make sure both of those things happen." To make that happen, Bishop and his defensive crew will have to limit Oregon quarterback Dennis Dixon and tailback Jonathan Stewart, who are leading a group that ranks sixth in the nation in scoring and fourth in total offense. "It's pretty scary to watch what those guys are doing on offense," Tedford said. "They have it rolling right now, so it will be a tough test for our defense. It's going to be very difficult to stop them. We just have to hope to be able to slow them down a little bit." One thing the Bears (2-0, 4-1) have going for them is that they feel like they're a different team than the one that was shell-shocked in the season opener. "I feel it in my game and I see it in everyone else's game," rover Brandon Hampton said. "It's lovely, because it was frustrating to see that our potential didn't show up in the game against Tennessee.''
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Today's game
Who: No. 11 Oregon (2-0 Pac 10, 4-0) at No. 16 Cal (2-0, 4-1)
When: 5 p.m.
TV/Radio: {KGO}Channel: 10 / 810 AM
Story line: Videos of these two teams make it difficult to understand how either defense will stop either offense, but history conveys a different picture with neither team scoring more than 28 points in five of the last six games. While Oregon appears to have dominated the series of late -- winning eight of the last nine meetings -- neither team could make that claim since the last three games have been decided by a total of 12 points. With everything visible on the surface turning out to be merely an illusion, it's tough to say what to expect this time. So we'll just admit it: Who knows?
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