The math is simple at this point -- Cal needs to win its final three games to be bowl eligible and avoid a third straight losing season.

There is no margin for error.

After being competitive for stretches with No. 6 Oregon and especially in the second half at No. 8 USC last week, the Golden Bears (3-6, 1-5 Pac-12) continue to show fight.

Just not results.

The remaining path starts Saturday at Oregon State (6-3, 3-3), which was ranked in the initial College Football Playoff rankings before falling out this week following a 24-21 loss at Washington. Then it's Stanford and UCLA (currently No. 9 in the AP poll, No. 12 in the CFP rankings) at home to close it out.

There were no questions to Cal coaches or players this week about bowl eligibility, though. For a team that has lost five straight following an encouraging start to the season, there's no need to look past a tough road trip to Corvallis, Ore., where the Bears are 14-point underdogs.

Looking ahead to that matchup, here are five takeaways from what Cal's coaches and players said this week ...

The latest forecast calls for a low of 28 degrees and high of 51 in Corvallis on Saturday, and with the game kicking off at 6 p.m. -- more than an hour after sunset -- it will be on the colder end of that range.

That's no surprise to Cal offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who played at Oregon and is used to the November chill up there.

"The weather is usually a factor. I think we'll be a pretty good mudder team. I think we'll be good mudders," he said. "We haven't faced very much weather yet this year, but I like the way our guys -- I like their makeup, I like their approach so I'm proud to be associated with this group of offensive players. I know we'll put our best foot forward no matter what's happening elements-wise."

Quarterback Jack Plummer may need to draw upon some of his experience from his four years at Purdue, as winter makes its presence felt this time of year in West Lafayette, Ind., as well.

"Growing up in Arizona I never played in a football game probably below 65, 70 degrees. I played in like one rain game. And then venturing off to Purdue there for four years, and not only playing in some cold games but practicing outside every day, we would practice in the elements a lot just to practice it. So I'm kind of accustomed to playing in the cold a little bit," Plummer said. "But at the same time you kind of get used to the temperature that you're living in, so living in the Bay Area for almost a year now, it's 60s and this week it's a little bit colder and [Monday] it was a little bit rainy, a little bit cold at practice, so I think that's good for us to get used to this week."

Redshirt junior defensive back Miles Williams is from Texas and acknowledged he grew up playing in warmer climates even in November/December, but he is welcoming whatever the Bears encounter Saturday up north.

"I look at it more like it's football weather. ... This is football weather," he said. "At the end of the day, they have to strap up their pads, they're going to be cold, we're going to be cold, the concession stand people are going to be, everybody's going to be cold. At the end of the day we just have to roll the pigskin out and see who's the best man."

Plummer had one of the best games of his career last season against Oregon State, while leading Purdue to a 30-21 win in early September.

He completed 29 of 41 passes for 313 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions in that game.

"It was probably up there for one of my better performances, for sure," he said.

So can that benefit him in any way this week?

"I think it can be. They've got some guys returning that I played against last year and some familiar faces. I'm not sure if it's the same coordinator as last year, but the defense looks pretty similar to the way it did last year, a similar structure. So yeah, that's a little bit of advantage for me," Plummer said.

"It was a good game for me. I remember it took all four quarters and it took our offense kind of battling it out, grinding it out and I think we won by like 9 points. We kind of had a nice drive at the end of the game to seal it. It was a close game, and I'm assuming it's probably going to be another close game this week so we're going to have to find a way to win it in the fourth quarter."

Oregon State did change defensive coordinators early last November, firing Tim Tibesar and naming Trent Bray the interim DC, eventually giving him the full-time role.

"They switched D-coordinators mid-stream last year, so there's some nuances or differences and improvements, but he's one to not leave any stone unturned in his preparation, Jack is, for sure," Musgrave said.