After a very impressive season, Cal also launched a program to officially campaign for running back Marshawn Lynch to win the Heisman Trophy.

Cal's opener was on the road against the #23 Tennessee Volunteers, a SEC team just coming off of a disappointing 5–6 season under coach Phillip Fulmer.

The Tennessee secondary was then dispatched to finish the Bears off, and Joe Ayoob was substituted for Longshore, putting up 187 yards, including a touchdown.

Minnesota scored on its first drive, but the Bears bounced back with a touchdown in the first and second quarter to receivers Robert Jordan and DeSean Jackson, respectively.

Portland State scored a field goal on their opening drive, but the Bears responded with three more touchdowns before the first quarter ended, one coming from a Daymeion Hughes 30-yard interception.

But Cal answered back, putting up five straight touchdowns midway through the second quarter, four being passes by Nate Longshore and the fifth being an 80-yard punt return by DeSean Jackson.

Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter confessed after the game, "When the pressure builds, even the routine plays become tough.

With a looming game against the undefeated Oregon Ducks, Coach Tedford confessed that he would "immediately" begin thinking about the showdown.

Before the game, the Cal student section gave a raucous tribute to Nobel Prize winner George Smoot, who had just won a few days earlier for his research on the Big Bang.

Cal then scored three straight touchdowns, two being passes from Longshore, and one being a memorable 65-yard punt return by receiver DeSean Jackson to put the Bears up 28–3.

Another touchdown score by both teams in the fourth quarter, Cal's coming from tailback Justin Forsett's 23-yard run, gave the Bears an impressive 45–24 victory.

Washington State had an opportunity to score in the third quarter, but an official review ruled receiver Dwight Tardy's knee was down on the 1-yard line.

Two straight losses, one a near-upset of the USC Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum,[31] and the other a shocker against Oregon State,[32] swayed their momentum a bit, yielding a 4–3 record, 2–2 in the Pac-10.

After scoring 192 points in their last six games, the Bears only managed a half-ending field goal from Tom Schneider to end the half with Washington up 10–3.

In Cal's first possession of the second half, they drove the ball 62 yards down field, capping it off with Justin Forsett running in for a touchdown.

After a defensive stop, quarterback Nate Longshore on the last drive of regulation went 82 yards in 12 plays as the game winded down, converting two third-and-tens.

Marshawn Lynch ran in 17 yards for the score, with Justin Forsett managed to rush in for the two-point conversion, giving the Bears a 24–17 lead with 1:52 to go.

Marshawn Lynch jubilantly took a cart used to drive injured players off the field for a joyride in the middle of the stadium following the win.

"[36] In a weekend full of near upsets of the Texas Longhorns,[37] Notre Dame,[38] and the Tennessee Volunteers,[39] the Bears dropped one spot in both polls to #12, but stayed at #10 in the BCS Rankings.

Last year, in a contest between the unbeaten, ranked teams at the Rose Bowl, the Bears fell to the Bruins 47–40, letting their 40–28 lead in the fourth quarter melt away.

After UCLA's failed drive, DeSean Jackson, aided by a devastating block by Thomas DeCoud, returned the ensuing punt 72 yards for a touchdown, putting the Bears up 28–10.

Despite a looming, much-anticipated showdown against the USC Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on November 18 that will probably decide the Pac-10 championship, Cal quarterback Nate Longshore insisted that they were solely focused on the Wildcats this week.

Midway through the first quarter, Marshawn Lynch's 79-yard touchdown run was erased by a block-in-the-back call on Lavelle Hawkins, and the Bears had to settle for a field goal.

Within the span of three plays on the second of these drives, Cal had two interceptions by Bernard Hicks and Daymeion Hughes nullified by two separate penalties.

Despite the upset, they still had a chance to clinch their Rose Bowl bid with a win against the conference leading USC Trojans the next week.

While the previous week's loss knocked Cal from the talks of hunting for the national title, a victory would have ensured its first Rose Bowl berth since 1959.

The Golden Bears would take a 9–6 lead into halftime thanks to a safety by Brandon Mebane and a TD throw from Nate Longshore to Lavelle Hawkins, although the margin could have been bigger if not for two turnovers in USC territory.

Two touchdown passes on two consecutive drives from John David Booty to Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith respectively provided the game's final scoring.

[56] The Bears would go into Thanksgiving weekend (their traditional bye week) needing to win The Big Game to wrap up their second Holiday Bowl bid in three years.

However, Tom Schneider kicked four field goals (including tying a school record with a 55 yarder in swirling winds) and Syd'Quan Thompson picked up a fumble recovery for a late first half score, and that was just enough for the Bears to stave off a strong performance from T.J. Ostrander and the hapless one win Cardinal squad.