This one means a little more. I know that. Jeff Tedford knows that. Even Worrell Williams's mother knows that. "I heard it from her (on Monday)," Williams explained on Tuesday. "She said (about the Oregon game), 'You played a good game, baby.'" Then, Sherri laid down the law: "'But we gotta get this one (against USC),'" Williams continued. "'This one's bigger than that one.' She's got a little personal vendetta against them." Sherri is certainly not alone in the vendetta against 'them,' the dearly despised Trojans.
Unstoppable, indomitable, reprehensible-insert any hyperbolic word here to describe the Pac-10 hegemon.
We've heard the Trojan honors ad nauseam: unlimited five-star recruits, 2004 and 2005 national championships, three Heisman winners since 2002 and six straight Pac-10 titles. For the last two seasons, they've finished disappointed because of their high standards: two Rose Bowl wins, total margins of victory of only 46 points. Cal? No Rose Bowl win in 70 years. Given the above and the fact the Bears haven't beaten USC in five years or won in L.A. since 2000, there's no doubting this one means a little more. Not to mention, it's a chance to reverse past fortunes and make good on what Aaron Rodgers nearly did in 2004 and fulfill what Marshawn Lynch couldn't quite do in '06. As such, it's no surprise Jahvid Best admits he started thinking about the Trojans when the clock said "zero-zero" after the win over the Ducks.
Nor is it shocking that Zack Follett discloses that one of the primary reasons he came to Berkeley in the first place was to dethrone USC. Even the consummate one-game-at-a-time, every-game-counts disciple Tedford concedes this one matters just a little bit more.
No doubt, this one matters more to everyone, minus one notable exception: You. For the first time in recent memory, despite the rhetoric coming from Cal players, anticipation for the clash among students and national media has been tepid at best, indifferent at worst. Perhaps it's because headliners like Rodgers and Lynch, DeSean Jackson and Lavelle Hawkins are nowhere to be found on the Bears' sideline. Maybe it's because No. 21 Cal lacks its top-10 cache headed into the game. Or perhaps the masses are still clinging to last season's fall from grace, still jaded from four straight losses at the hands of the titanic Trojan enemy.
Whatever the reason, it's apparent that while this game means something more to the Bears (as it always does), it seems to lack the extra pizzazz for those watching (as it never does). And that's exactly why Cal can win. When the lights turn on and all West Coast eyes turn to ABC at 5 p.m., it won't be 2004 or 2006 all over again. It's not about carrying the weight of lofty expectations or rewriting the past. It's not about over-relying on singular players, either-expecting Jackson to fly by corners, Lynch to run over backers or Rodgers to pick apart an entire defense.
It's about team. A team that finds ways to win, not with flashy names or first-round picks, but by controlling tempo, forcing turnovers, rotating offensive contributors and stifling defense. It's about a team stacked with two compact, home-run hitting running backs against a defense proven to be vulnerable to exactly that. Most of all, it's a team that is ready. Early in the week, Williams admitted for the first time in his Cal career, the task of taking on the Trojans didn't seem especially daunting. Later, Tedford drew a subtle parallel between the collected makeup of the current team and his '04 squad. Make no mistake about it. With the nation looking the other way, the Bears could very well shock the world. And to those expectation-less Berkeley students who trek the 350 miles to Southern California for the chance to watch a game that means a bit more: You might get a little more than you bargained for.
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