UCLA entered Autzen Stadium Sept. 23 with a certain swagger for its showdown against the Ducks that afternoon.
The Bruins were feeling mighty good about themselves after beating then-No. 3 Alabama, Fresno State and then-No. 3 Michigan.
For its 3-0 start, UCLA was awarded a No. 6 ranking and talking not only Rose Bowl, but also thinking about the national championship.
The Ducks ended such talk by dominating the nationally televised game 29-10, and exposing the Bruins’ weaknesses. A week later, UCLA barely held off Arizona State at home, 38-31, and headed into the bye week with the intent of picking up its game and making a run for the roses.
The Bruins had two weeks to prepare for a struggling California team, who were coming off a 30-10 thumping at the hands of Arizona State.
“It’s kind of like we’re starting the second season right now and that’s kind of how I’m looking at it,” said UCLA head coach Bob Toledo before the Cal game. “You look at Cal, they’re 1-4 and 0-2 in the conference, but they have some good football players.”
Good enough, it turned out, to beat the Bruins and knock them down to No. 23 in the Associated Press poll. UCLA was playing without junior tailback DeShaun Foster, who broke his hand against the Sun Devils.
Without Foster, the Bruins could only muster a measly 45 total rushing yards in its 46-38 triple-overtime loss to the Golden Bears.
“Yeah it’s frustrating,” Bruin quarterback Cory Paus told the Associated Press. “It’s as frustrated as I’ve ever been in my life.”
The loss came on the same day that Los Angeles’ other team, the USC Trojans, fell to the Ducks for their third straight Pacific-10 Conference loss.
“Okay, first of all, the Cal game,” said Toledo at the start of his weekly conference call. “Well there’s no question in my mind that it was a big disappointment. We have to look at our team and our coaches and adjust a little bit.”
The Bruins will have to do their adjusting against the surprise team of the league in the No. 19 Oregon State Beavers. The good news, however, is that the game will be played in Pasadena, Calif., where the Bruins are 4-0 this year.
“[Oregon State is] ranked 19th in the nation and I’ll tell you what, for those that don’t realize it, this is a talented football team with a lot of speed and a lot of athleticism,” Toledo said.
Think about this food for thought: Who would have thought that at this point in the year the league records of the Oregon schools would be 5-1 as opposed to the 1-5 mark put up by the L.A. schools?

A Titan-like performance
Maybe the reason that UCLA lost to Cal wasn’t its weak running game or its lack of quarterback protection. Perhaps what clinched the game took place off the field the night before the game.
The Golden Bears were struggling and in need of a pick-me-up after losing four straight games. So Cal head coach Tom Holmoe decided to break out the films on Friday night to prepare for the then-No. 13 Bruins.
But it wasn’t exactly a notebook and pencil film session, as Holmoe took his players to the passionate football movie, “Remember the Titans.” The movie stars Denzel Washington and is about a high school football team in the early 1970s that must come together as one despite its racial differences.
The ploy obviously worked as the Golden Bears came out inspired and held on for the triple-overtime win.
“It seemed everybody got something from [the movie],” wide receiver Derek Swafford told the San Francisco Chronicle. “We had some extra energy before the game, at halftime and it was still there in the overtimes.”
“It was about commitment, pride and spirit within the team,” defensive tackle Jacob Waasdorp said. “That was the whole movie and that’s what it took today.”
Coincidentally, Oregon State coach Dennis Erickson took his Beavers to see the same movie on the day of his team’s game with the Washington Huskies Oct. 7. Oregon State also cited the positive effects of the movie on its game, but wound up losing a hard-fought 33-30 battle.

Pac-10 honors
The Pac-10 players of the week were Cal safety Nnamdi Asomugha on defense, Arizona’s Gary Love on special teams and Oregon quarterback Joey Harrington for the offense. Oregon senior linebacker Matt Smith was nominated for defensive player of the week.
Five Pac-10 teams are ranked in the AP top-25 in No. 7 Oregon, No. 9 Washington, No. 19 Oregon State, No. 21 Arizona and No. 23 UCLA.