Shoulder pads came on in Berkeley, which meant that Cal's third practice, while not full contact, had a little more juice to it than the first two days. There was still, as offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin put it, rust to work through

"First day in pads today, so definitely some rust," Baldwin noted "a few things we have to fix and correct like there always is, but there's a really good mindset with this group and there's a really good competitive edge. Every year the team has its own identity and creates that, it's created a lot in the offseason, and you can tell with what these guys have done with coach Bec(ton) and his staff, and it's a credit to these young men. They took it upon themselves in the last 6, 7, 8 months since the end of last season, that we're going to make these improvements, and we're not going to put them on a poster or on a shirt, we're gonna do them daily. It's gonna be a lot of teaching every day, but I'm excited about this group."

WATCH: Baldwin and QBs from Day Three

It was a day that saw some solid quarterback play from Chase Garbers and Devon Modster, particularly in the RPO game, but also saw some unsteadiness near the end, as both threw interceptions on end-zone fades. Both made solid reads on zone runs, busting free for massive gains, Garbers taking one 30+ yards against the first team on defense.

The offensive line had some normal, Steve Greatwood inspired shifting, as Gentle Williams took some reps at the center position. Greatwood's reasoning is like his reasoning with other moves around the starting offensive line, just in case.

"The older guys understand that they're going to get cross-trained at every position," Greatwood said, "we can't afford, we don't have the depth to be solely honed it at one position. I asked Gentle to get himself ready to be a snapper, so between he, Cindric, and Saffell, I think we'll have three quality guys who can play center, continue to train some of these younger guys as well. You've always got to have three, I've learned the hard way through my 39 years of doing this that you need to have three guys on every road trip or every game that can operate the offense, because it goes to hell in a handbasket if you don't."

Among the players that have made an early impact is Nikko Remigio. The true sophomore from Mater Dei looks like a completely different player physically. His route running has improved, as he's become the go-to-guy on a handful of RPOs. Modster hit Remigio in stride on an RPO that likely would've gone the distance, had this been a live situation.

"He's definitely emerged, and he's one of the guys who has made the biggest jump from 12 months ago," "with just his body, his overall physicalness, his strength, getting in and out of breaks. He attacks this offense and he attacks how he takes things like a veteran, not like a guy who's only in his second year, it's exciting to see the growth Nikko has made."

For now, there are more guys who either need to or should make a jump in the coming days. It's early in camp, and this Cal team should be in full pads by Tuesday.