The CAl Bears [ranked number 4 in the country AP,ESPN,BCS] Up For Big Game — Of course I guess you still have to play the game. Then again the Stanford Rugby team forfeited a game a couple of years ago against Berkeley because they “didn’t want to get hurt.” Is that amazing or what?

Here is a site with a good take on the game. FYI. More proof that coaches are important. That said, games like this can be lost from bad breaks and over-confidence.

This Week’s Game
California (#4 Associated Press/#4 ESPN/USA Today) makes its final home appearance of the season when the Golden Bears host Stanford in the 107th renewal of the Big Game Saturday in Memorial Stadium. A sellout crowd of nearly 73,000 is expected to watch the Bears aim for their third consecutive victory in the series.

At 6-1 in the Pac-10 standings, Cal needs a win over the Cardinal to tie Pappy Waldorf’s 1949 squad (7-0 in the Pacific Coast Conference) for the most league victories in school history. Cal is also 4-0 in Berkeley in 2004 and can post its first undefeated home mark – and just the 10th ever in school annals – since the 1950 squad finished 6-0-1.

The Bears – one of just two teams (USC is the other) to rank among the Top 10 in the country in both scoring offense (5th, 38.11 ppg) and scoring defense (6th, 13.9 ppg) – have prevailed in five straight games overall and can reach six straight in one season for the first time since that 1950 unit claimed its final six contests of the regular season.