The California Golden Bears have not beaten the USC Trojans since 2003, meaning they've lost eight in a row in the series. Cal's eight-game losing streak to USC is the second longest among Pac-10 schools behind Washington State. They haven't been relatively close in awhile, with their losses tending toward the blowout variety the last few contests (losses of 21, 34, and 27 the last three seasons). The offense has struggled forever and ever against the USC defensive front regardless of the season.
The Cal fans seems not to be all that comfortable with their chances of beating USC. Here is a recent California Golden Blogs roundtable that seemed to indicate Cal fans are not optimistic of their victory despite a strong showing against Ohio State last year. The excerpts seem to believe Golden Bears fans need to see something before they believe it.
History seems to be a big factor.
I don't have a lot of hope against USC. I'm sorry to say, but I just don't. I've seen Cal teams go into the Coliseum and struggle down there. We haven't beaten them since 2003. I'm not trying to be unduly negative here, it's just a situation of "I'll believe it when I see it. And until I see it, I'm struggle to believe it."
The recent loss against Stanford also is an issue, because they now believe USC will be in must-win mode.
On the other hand, the furd upset of USC totally discourages me for a few reasons. #1 is because I wanted us to be the ones to beat them, #2 is because that game will probably serve as a wake-up call for them, and #3 is because now USC will probably be pissed and will take it out on us next week. They always seem to be able to solve whatever it is that ails them against us, so I'm definitely discouraged by their loss.
Talk about the picks with Cal fans by hitting up the California Golden Blogs, and with USC fans by checking out Conquest Chronicles.