Exhale, citizens of Bear Territory. Roll out those yoga mats, rub your temples and breathe through your eyelids. Only two days remain until the . . . what? What do you think we should call it? Can't use ``Big Game'' because that's officially licensed by that December game against a team that's currently 1-9. So let's call this ``The Biggest Game Cal Has Played in 48 Years.'' Not catchy but very accurate. Cal has a lot of history in Big Games, but -- sadly -- not a lot of history in big games. And that's one of the troubling aspects for the Old Blues heading into Saturday's Monumental, Historic, Rose Bowl-on-the-line showdown with USC. Cal's big game résumé is pretty darn short. That opening game in Tennessee could have made the list except that, of course, Cal didn't win. That exciting match with USC in 2004 would make the list, except that Cal didn't win that one, either. The three-overtime win over USC in 2003 is on the list, but it was played in September. There was an October game against Washington in 1991 that could have decided the Rose Bowl but, nope, Cal didn't win that one, either. Coach Jeff Tedford's big game résumé? Cal has won two out of three December bowl games under Tedford. That win over third-ranked USC in 2003 propelled the Bears to legitimacy. And, of course, Tedford is 4-0 in Big Games, which -- given the Cardinal's recent woes -- haven't been big games.
USC's big game résumé? Well, how long do you have? True, the Trojans lost their last big game, the thrilling national title game against Texas. But USC is Big Games R Us. The Trojans have stacks of them. Particularly in November. Especially particularly in November under Pete Carroll. Carroll has never lost a game in November (18-0) since he arrived in the land of Troy. November is Trojan month, when the Coliseum is packed to the brim, the darn horse loses 20 pounds from running around and the entire southern half of the state quakes to the rhythm of ``Dum da-da-da-da Dum.'' USC stumbled, and stumbled badly, against Oregon State three weeks ago. But the Trojans are now ranked third in the BCS and seem to be back on course. (And that 50-14 thrashing of Arkansas in their opener looks more impressive every day, as the Razorbacks have moved up to No. 7.) It's no wonder Tedford wants everyone in Berkeley to try to relax. He sounds ready to roll out yoga mats for his whole team. ``It's important that they relax and execute,'' Tedford said at his weekly news conference. ``We can't go in there with so much weight on our shoulders and thinking about what it's all about.'' What it's all about is the Rose Bowl, a place the Bears haven't been since Jan. 1, 1959, when they lost to Iowa. In the 1958 season, the Bears clinched the Rose Bowl by beating both USC and UCLA, behind quarterback Joe Kapp. But Iowa pummeled the Bears 38-12.
And then began the almost half-century wait to return to Pasadena. ``A lot of people have been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time,'' Tedford said. ``I hear that everywhere I go. I know it means a lot to the fans and alumni.'' Since that 1958 season the Bears have had, by my estimation, exactly zero November games with the Rose Bowl on the line. Since then USC has been in the Rose Bowl 18 times, bringing the Trojans' total to 30 appearances. In that span, every other Pac-10 team except for Arizona has spent New Year's Day in Pasadena at least once. The Bears didn't do a very good job of laying the groundwork for this all-everything game, with their stinker in the desert last week. But the result didn't change anything. All the hand-wringing by national analysts about how the loss to Arizona would knock the Bears out of BCS contention missed the big picture: Old Blues care only about getting back to the Rose Bowl, not some BCS ranking. Were the Bears looking ahead? Probably. And the players sound relieved that this week there's no looking at anything except the obvious gorilla in the film room. ``I'm happy to finally be able to talk about it,'' quarterback Nate Longshore said. ``I get asked about it every week. It's why I came to Cal.'' ``It'll be one of those games that people remember.'' Because it truly is a big game.
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