By Craig Smith
Seattle Times staff reporter
BERKELEY, Calif. — Two teams trying to pull out of unexpected tailspins meet tonight when Washington State plays No. 25 California. Cal coach Jeff Tedford noted this week that "there are a lot of similarities" between the Cougars and Golden Bears. "They had a chance to win games, and we had a chance to win games," he said. Late tonight, one of the win-starved teams will leave Memorial Stadium with its losing streak halted. The oddsmakers say it won't be the Cougars, who are 12-point underdogs. Last week, Cal was upset at home 23-20 by Oregon State. Five Bears turnovers factored in the defeat, which was the team's first in Berkeley since 2003. The previous week, Cal lost at UCLA. The back-to-back defeats have the Bears sounding grumpy. On Monday, Cal senior defensive end Tosh Lupoi told a Bay Area reporter, "We have a horrible, burning sensation in our stomachs and our hearts. We are starving for a victory, and we are starving to play. I don't care how banged up we are, I wish we could play tomorrow." Tonight's game could hinge on whether the Cougars can contain Heisman Trophy candidate Marshawn Lynch. Lynch, one of the nation's most heralded freshman running backs last year, fumbled twice last week against Oregon State and was benched at halftime. He was playing with a cast to protect a finger and knuckle broken at Washington on Sept. 10. This week, Tedford showed he hasn't lost confidence in the dangerous 215-pound sophomore, saying not only will Lynch start tonight, he will have expanded duties as kickoff returner. But the Bears (5-2, 2-2 Pac-10) have more than one land weapon. Sophomore Justin Forsett posted a 187-yard day against Illinois and a 235-yard afternoon against New Mexico State when Lynch was sidelined. For Cal, the No. 1 objective is to shut down Cougars running back Jerome Harrison, who leads the Pac-10 and is second in the nation with an average of 166.8 yards a game. He ran for a career-high 260 yards last week against UCLA. "I don't know that you are going to stop him," said Tedford. "Just to hopefully contain him a little bit would be the goal."
The Cougars (3-3, 0-3) are on a three-game losing streak. Among the things working against them tonight is the sports bromide that teams that come close to pulling an upset tend to go downhill in their next game. There's also the fact that Cal has one of the best defenses in the Pac-10 and is No. 1 in the league in total defense (average of 316.4 yards allowed) and scoring defense (17.5 points allowed). Still, this could get interesting, and not only because Harrison is hot and wide receiver Jason Hill appears back at nearly full strength. Cal lost starting quarterback Nate Longshore (broken ankle) in its opener, and backup Joe Ayoob has been inconsistent. The Bears also might be without both starting offensive tackles — Andrew Cameron (knee) is out, and Ryan O'Callaghan (concussion) is questionable. On the other side of the ball, tough nose tackle Brandon Mebane (ankle) is questionable. WSU coach Bill Doba has called tonight's game "pivotal" to the rest of the Cougars' season. One of the Cougars' problems has been the inability of the offense and defense to help each other. When one unit needs a break from the other, such as a long offensive drive so the defense can get refreshed, it hasn't happened. Meanwhile, the defense has forced only eight turnovers all season. "We just need to make a play in a critical situation, and we haven't been able to do it," Doba said. He hopes that changes tonight.
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