It was the final practice for Cal in Memorial Stadium, and as such, seniors got carried off the field. As such, there was a lot of hubbub during the post-practice media interviews as Alonso Vera was taken off on the shoulders of all the specialists or Chase Forrest was hustled off by the combined forces of Chase Garbers and Robby Rowell. It spoke to a team that's ready to head to Phoenix for their final exam, a Cheez-It Bowl matchup with TCU.

"We've had a really good week of game prep," Justin wilcox said Saturday after practice, "while getting some developmental work in. Our guys have done a nice job mentally with preparation, because we know the kind of team we're facing."

That's a 6-6 TCU team that has had similar issues to the Bears this years, a very talented defense but struggles offensively as they're on their third-string QB in Grayson Muehlstein. That said, Jalen Reagor has been productive for TCU, with 72 receptions for 1061 yards and 9 TDs, and will likely be the biggest offensive threat the Bears have to face.

"Really productive player, they get him the ball in different ways, he runs the entire route tree, returns, he's just a really explosive player. They'll hand it to him, throw it to him, people kick it to him, move him all over. Just a really good football player and a tough matchup, we'll have to have some things in the gameplan to mitigate what he does."

The Bears are done with a lot of their preparation, they've kept this week similar to a normal in-season prep week, and the next three days will mimic that, with lighter, more walkthrough-type practices being the norm at Chaparral HS in Scottsdale. They'll fly into Phoenix tomorrow morning before getting fully into bowl mode for the 26th

- WR Vic Wharton III is no longer with the team, per Wilcox. Wharton had led the Bears this year with 502 receiving yards and was tied for the team lead in receptions with 50.

"Vic is no longer with the team and we wish him nothing but the best," Wilcox said, "Vic's moving on, we wish him nothing but success in the future."

- WR Kanawai Noa is practicing with the team after being out for the final few weeks of the season. Noa has 28 receptions for 326 yards and two scores on the year, as the Bears could certainly use his production in the slot.

"Noa is practicing," Wilcox said, "we're closer than we were three or four days ago."

- Marcel Dancy will not play in the bowl game, as he's right on the redshirt cusp, unless health becomes an issue for every other running back. Patrick Laird is slated to start, and Chris Brown, Alex Netherda and newly minted RB Brandon McIlwain will back him up.

- One thing the coaches are counting on for moving forward is the carryover effect, both from the season and the bowl practices, propelling the team through the game, into next year.

"Absolutely, and the entire season carryover effect in terms of guys that have played," Wilcox said, "we want to make the most of those opportunities, there are only so many teams that can play in a bowl game. A lot of the guys who were redshirting or didn't see a lot of reps almost got a spring ball's worth of reps for those guys. That's how you learn, nothing like playing a game, we all know that, but to come out here and get the 1 on 1, 11 on 11, all those different types of situations you can teach off of, it's invaluable."

Cal has been able to have newly signed LB Kuony Deng in at practice with them, with a NCAA rule that permits up to 15 practices during a program's bowl preparation once his final transcripts are approved by the compliance office.

"It's a unique scenario where he jumped right out here, started practicing," Wilcox said, "and learned a lot. The fact that he can jump right in in 7 on 7 or team and jump right in and function and line up is encouraging. He's still got a long way to go, but you see the athletic traits, the size and the speed, that are pretty evident, now he's got to learn what to do."

"He's taking a sip out of a fire hydrant right now," defensive coordinator Tim DeRuyter added, "he's coming into practice and he's hearing a lot of terms. He's really going to be special, he's a tremendous athlete. I spoke to his former head coach at VMI, who was a classmate of mine who knew him very well, obviously not happy about him leaving, but happy for Kuony, because he's as quality of a person as he's coached...We're excited about his athleticism, he's a multi-tool guy, we think he can play any of the four linebacker positions.

Deng's set to play both inside and outside linebacker at the spot, but has stuck around Jordan Kunaszyk in the early going as he looks to learn the defense.

"We asked Jordan, I told KD 'listen to Jordan, he probably coaches better than I do,'" inside linebackers coach Peter Sirmon joked, "Jordan's, from a player perspective, should be able to communicate it and make it easy to learn for Kuony."

Sirmon, Deng's main recruiter, has had him with his group quite a bit during the week, even though, the Independence CC transfer is out of the normal mold of an inside linebacker.

"He's 6'5"+ and about 230 right now, you don't see a lot of guys that height do it," Sirmon said, "but you see his Independence film, he does it for the whole season, he plays like an inside linebacker. We'll have to see what's best for him and what's the best configuration for the guys we have coming back."