While the Cal staff used Sunday as what would normally be a 'Thursday' in-season practice, they used Monday as a Friday practice, mostly focusing on walkthroughs. That should lead into a Tuesday/Saturday, which will be a full pads scrimmage.

"I want to see our guys compete," defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter said, "tomorrow we're going to have situations that are live, who can get a man on the ground? We want to see who can finish that play, particularly the younger guys. We know where our veterans are. They need to get some limited reps to stay fresh, but our young guys, the guys that have been flashing, they need to get it done."

There's a handful of guys that they're looking to get better looks at during the live contact stuff on defense.

"Guys like Ben Schrider, he's having a really good camp," DeRuyter said, "Branden Smith has had a really good camp, some of those young guys, Orin Patu, can you get it done when it's live bullets flying at you."

Knowing how Cal scrimmages, it'll likely be part 'Play-the-Game' scrimmage and part situational, with some third down and red-zone situations likely (some of Cal's offensive packages for those were installed over the weekends).

This also gives some of the depth a chance to show out.

"I mentioned Ben Schrider, he's really flashed, Craig Woodson in the secondary has flashed a lot," DeRuyter noted, "but these guys just got here in the summer, we haven't seen them in live situations."

That'll allow for the young DBs to show up, particularly Woodson, who has earned some praise from his position coach.

"With some of the reps he's been able to get, with some guys out with some things," DB coach Gerald Alexander said, "he's done a great job of getting out there and competing, showing what he's able to do, and doing a great job of trying to learn his responsibilities and the communication that comes with playing safety."

Other guys who Alexander noted improvement from included Branden Smith, Daniel Scott, and Chigozie Anusiem, as all three have seen extended playing time with older guys either nursing injuries or taking limited reps.