Los Angeles Times: USC's Nemesis is Back in Town

'Sorry about that" is what California Coach Jeff Tedford said to Athletic Director Sandy Barbour seconds before Tedford ducked into the stadium catacombs after Saturday's stunning and strange loss to Arizona. On a weekend when Louisville, Auburn and Texas lost, Cal blew a chance to join the national championship race in advance of Saturday's game at USC. The Coliseum scene could have nearly equaled the unfolding drama in Columbus, Ohio. As it stands, the Cal-USC winner only goes to the Rose Bowl — at worst for the Trojans, at best for the Bears. If USC fans think Cal is ready to spit the bit, though, and settle for another trip to the Holiday Bowl, well, think again. Cal will be the toughest opponent USC faces this season, meaner than Arkansas, Nebraska, Oregon State, Notre Dame and UCLA. Cal, remember, did just as big a number on Oregon as USC did.  What happened to Cal at Arizona was freakish. The Bears fell into a lazy-day trap and couldn't wiggle their paws free. They jumped to a 17-3 lead in an atmosphere of library quiet, only to fall flat on their Dewey Decimals.

Cal failed to land the one punch that would have put Arizona away, and then became bit actors in the soap opera "As the Day Turned."

Cal lost by four points, but:

•  Had a 79-yard Marshawn Lynch touchdown run called back by a penalty that had nothing to do with the play.

•  Thought it had stopped Arizona from tying the score at 17-17 when cornerback Daymeion Hughes was called for pass interference as he intercepted a pass inside the five — a ridiculous ruling in a year of ridiculousness for Pac-10 officials.

•  Thought it had tied the score at 24-24 only to watch receiver Lavelle Hawkins tackle himself on a sure touchdown, stumbling short of the goal line.

•  Thought it had won the game when receiver DeSean Jackson raced 63 yards for a touchdown, only to have replay officials rule (correctly) that Jackson's foot had smudged the sideline chalk at the 41.

"I can't recall when we played a game when we had so many opportunities taken away from us," Hughes said. "When you have plays going that way, I was like 'Man, this can't be real.' "

Cal was the last Pac-10 team to beat USC before Oregon State did last month and Cal could be the team that ends USC's 31-game home winning streak. Why should the Trojans be worried? Tedford, more than any USC opponent coach in the Pete Carroll era, seems to know how to muck up the Trojan machinery. Only one game in the four-game series — last year's 35-10 USC win in Berkeley — was not a rapids ride. In 2002, the year Tedford took over a 1-10 team, Cal lost to USC by two in the Coliseum. The next year Cal beat USC in triple overtime and, in 2004, Cal had four shots at the Trojans end zone before losing by six. Why should USC be worried?

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