San Francisco Chroncle: Cal Freshman Has His Job Cornered

A day after having surgery to repair a cracked bone in his left wrist, redshirt freshman cornerback Syd'Quan Thompson was back on the Cal practice field, breaking up passes with his cast and making hits like he didn't feel the pain.  "Backing down from a challenge is not in his nature," defensive backs coach R. Todd Littlejohn said. "He's a tough guy who wants to be great."  That's why there wasn't a lot of panic among the Bears' coaching staff when Thompson was burned on three long pass plays in the season-opening loss to Tennessee. They stuck with him, and it's paying off.  "I wanted Syd to be confident that we were behind him, and that seemed to erase all of his doubt," Littlejohn said. "From that point on, he's continued to improve."  In fact, his teammates think he played his best game of his career last week against Arizona, and it couldn't have come at a better time as Cal prepares to play USC in what is essentially a one-game opportunity to advance to the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1959.  The Trojans have the best receiving tandem (Steve Smith

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