SF Chronicle: CAL'S MISSION: GET IT TOGETHER

Rusty Simmons

Cal coaches and players say they played their best game of the year in the season-opening win over Michigan State, and they haven't played a complete game since.  Each unit has shown flashes of conference-champion caliber, but rarely have those flashes complemented each other. Cal, however, knows it has to put it all together this weekend to have a chance at knocking off No. 7 USC in Los Angeles on Saturday. "When you play a team as talented as USC, you've got to play pretty much a perfect game," senior outside linebacker Zack Follett said. It will take the sorts of performances we display here in a unit-by-unit look at Cal's best quarters:

Quarterbacks

-- Kevin Riley completed 17 of 28 passes for 239 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a fourth-quarter comeback attempt against Maryland.

-- Nate Longshore was 4-of-6, including the conversion of both third-down attempts, for 74 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the fourth quarter of the win over Colorado State.

Running backs

-- Jahvid Best has a plethora of highlight-reel runs, but none were better than a 34-yard touchdown against UCLA. He changed directions, leaped one defender, stiff-armed another and stepped through a final potential tackler on his way to 34 of his 54 third-quarter yards.

-- Shane Vereen had eight carries for 30 yards and four catches for 49 yards, proving he could fill in for Best, in the first quarter against Arizona State.

-- Will Ta'ufo'ou caught a 5-yard touchdown pass and made two punishing lead blocks in the third quarter against Michigan State.

Receivers

-- LaReylle Cunningham had three second-quarter catches for 67 yards against Maryland in the Bears' only 100-yard receiving game of the season.

-- Verran Tucker made two catches, including a diving touchdown reception, for 37 yards in the first quarter against Arizona.

Offensive line

-- Guard Chris Guarnero earned game-ball honors against Washington State, in part because he opened holes for 133 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter.

-- Donovan Edwards and Justin Cheadle made good on their first career starts, allowing Oregon's conference-best group of sackers to record only one and giving enough time to complete 93 yards in passing in the second quarter.

Defensive line

-- Cameron Jordan recorded two sacks and a forced fumble in a dominating first quarter against Arizona State.

-- Tyson Alualu had a sack and batted down two passes in the fourth quarter against UCLA.

Linebackers

-- Zack Follett made every tackle on a third-quarter series against Maryland, the same quarter he forced a fumble and had two other stops.

-- Mike Mohamed had three of his nine tackles and an 18-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter against UCLA.

-- Anthony Felder had six tackles and was seemingly all over the field in the first quarter against Michigan State.

Secondary

-- Marcus Ezeff filled the stat sheet with three tackles and a 69-yard interception return in the second quarter against UCLA.

-- Syd'Quan Thompson had one of his two interceptions and returned it 90 yards, in the second quarter against Washington State.

Special teams

-- Bryan Anger averaged 49.3 yards a punt in the fourth quarter against Arizona State, including a 72-yarder that was downed at the 5-yard line.

-- Giorgio Tavecchio made a 42-yard field goal and had three booming kickoffs in the second quarter against Arizona.

Coaching

-- Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti called for a flea-flicker that went for a 53-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter against UCLA and changed the game's momentum.

-- Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory made great adjustments to Oregon's running game in the fourth quarter to seal that win.

Cal At USC

When: 5 p.m. Saturday

Where: Los Angeles

TV: Channel: 7 Channel: 10