Golden Nuggets: Cal Riding High

• Cal football and the community are “riding high” from the Big Game victory

A week has passed since the Big Game at Stanford, but there’s a glow around the Cal football program and everyone who cares about the team. In the realm of spiritual wins, the ones that delve straight into the soul, that was an all-timer.

How much so? Maybe the best in 16 years.

The Bears have certainty beaten better teams than that Stanford bunch in recent years. They knocked off Texas two years in a row (2015-16) and had bowl victories against Virginia Tech (2003), BYU (2005), Texas A&M (2006), Air Force twice (2007, 2015) and Miami (2008). But that’s a different category. What happened in Palo Alto, with a bowl appearance secured and joyous fans blanketing the field, was the kind of win that defines — perhaps even saves — a program.

• An inside look at Nikko Remigio’s amazing game against Stanford.

“More than anything, it’s a reminder of how I personally believe I should perform in every game, not just The Big Game,” Remigio said. “I’ll use this as motivation and as a standard for how I want to compete each week. It’s a blessing that I could do this in The Big Game, but that’s what I want every week. It sets the bar for what I know I can do consistently.”

For Garbers, seeing Remigio perform at a high level was a confidence boost for the entire team. ”Nikko was coming off an injury that kept him from being involved in conditioning, and that’s surely tough for a wide receiver because of how much that plays a role in their preparation,” Garbers said. “Having him step up in that moment is huge for our team and for Nikko personally.”

• Find out why Cal Football was able to make a bowl game again this year.
• Ever wonder how Cal players are able to bring dozens of guests to a game, even on the road? Find out how players wrangle tickets to each game.

Due to insane work hours next week away from home, I will be taking a break next week! I will be back on December the 9th.

Beat the Bruins!