San Francisco Chronicle: Injured QB wanted in, but game was Riley's

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Cal quarterback Nate Longshore found himself in a frustratingly familiar place during the Bears' 31-28 loss to Oregon State on Saturday night. After missing 111/2 games during his redshirt freshman season with a broken bone in his lower left leg, Longshore was back on the sideline with a sprained right ankle.  "It was brutal watching Cal play football," Longshore said Sunday. "I've watched far too many games since I've been here."  Longshore, who was hurt Sept. 29 in a win over Oregon, said the injury is more complex than a sprained ankle but chose not to elaborate. He also said he felt pretty good during Saturday's warm-ups. "The boss decides, and that's what we go with," he said. "There were certain times when I tried to lobby to play, but that was not the time or the place to lobby for 'put me in coach.' This isn't Pee Wee football."

Redshirt freshman and first-time starter Kevin Riley played admirably, completing 20 of 34 passes for 294 yards and three touchdowns (one rushing). He'll be remembered, however, for allowing the clock to run out after driving the team into position for a game-tying field goal.  "It's tough standing over there, because your first thought is: 'It's so easy,' " Longshore said. "That's simple to say on the sideline, but when you're on the field and you feel like you can make a play, you go for it. Every great athlete tries to make that play and help out their team. I didn't second-guess him at all." Coach Jeff Tedford said Longshore is still day-to-day as the team prepares for a road game against UCLA.

Hanging loose: The players, for the most part, arrived for Sunday's conditioning practice with smiles on their faces.  "I take losses pretty well, especially losses from which we can bounce back," said middle linebacker Worrell Williams, who called safety Thomas DeCoud and defensive tackle Matt Malele at 8 a.m. with a message. "I called to tell them to get the guys' morale up. We can't be drooping around, or we'll go into the next game and get whooped."  Tedford and the rest of the coaching staff appreciated it. They showed up with grimaces and appeared to have gotten little sleep. "The players have pretty short memories, thankfully," Tedford said. "They always pick the coaches up. I have a lot of confidence that these guys will prepare well and won't forget the feeling of losing, but they also won't let it linger and will have positive energy throughout the week."

Tempering temper: The Versus telecast caught Tedford, who is usually publicly unruffled, screaming and throwing his headset after the loss.  "I was more frustrated that we didn't have a shot at tying the game," he said. "It was very emotional at the end, and it was very fast paced. I probably got a little overzealous with my emotions."

Briefly: Both receiver Robert Jordan and tight end Cameron Morrah have second-degree sprains of the AC joint in their shoulders and are day-to-day, Tedford said. ... Offensive linemen Alex Mack and Mike Tepper playfully ran post-practice passing routes for freshman quarterback Brock Mansion.