You couldn't tell that Cal had won possibly their biggest game in the last ten years walking into practice today. It was business as usual in Berkeley, as the Bears prepare for their next opponent in North Texas, and that attitude was formed in the offseason.

"I think it's super easy with (the coaches)," ILB Evan Weaver said, "they're telling us it starts in the offseason, you have a bad day and you're not gonna carry that on through the whole week, you've just got to keep rebuilding, it's a 'never finished' mentality, you've got to keep pushing yourself to get better."

It's a short turnaround for the group, especially Weaver, who noted he got to drive home from the airport with his sunglasses on.

"We beat Washington, we got the 24 hour period to enjoy it a little bit," Weaver said, "then Monday comes around and you're on to the next one. We're here to win games and win as many as possible."

And they've got a challenge with North Texas coming in. Both Justin Wilcox and Tim DeRuyter recognize the threat that an explosive Mean Green offense presents.

"It's a challenge to defend them," Wilcox said, "it's a really good scheme, and what they've done there in the past couple years is very impressive. They're dangerous, offensively with the scheme and the players they've got."

"They've got a quarterback who started for multiple years," DeRuyter added, "a two-time conference player of the year, a guy who really knows their offense and can spin it. He's got some skill around him comparable to what we see all the time. Really impressed, they've got a couple running backs that run extremely hard. Any time you've got a team that's running for 200 yards and throwing for 300, what are you gonna do?"

We'll find out a bit on that Saturday, but the Bears have held teams below the 200 yard mark passing in the first two contests, and they'll look to do it again.

Justin Wilcox announced that TE McCallan Castles has left the team. Castles, a redshirt freshman, had played in the first two contests, and had one career catch to his name. Castles has since entered the transfer portal.

Wilcox was asked who would be in at tight end in the interim.

"A lot of guys have been taking reps there, with Gavin (Reinwald) and (Jake) Tonges," Wilcox said, "Collin Moore is ready to go, Nick Alftin has been getting some reps over there, and those are the guys that will continue to get opportunities. They've been doing a good job, they've been getting better in the run game and they take pride in that, they've got a lot of room to grow."

Weaver's Got Believers

Weaver won six different National Defensive Player of the Week awards, in addition to winning Pac-12 defensive player of the week, but he doubled down on something he said about all the watchlists he made over the summer.

"It's cool, just like earlier in the summer when I got recognized on the watchlists," Weaver said, "it's for moms."

This begged the question, how is Weaver's mom doing with the accolades her son is racking up in spades.

"She's happy, but she knows she's got the 24-hour rule with me," Weaver joked, "get it all out, but when the next week starts, forget about it."

DeRuyter on North Texas QB Mason Fine

DeRuyter compared QB Mason Fine a bit to Shea Patterson and Jake Maier, along with another QB that DeRuyter spent some time around.

"There's guys that play with a swagger, I was around a guy," DeRuyter noted "Johnny Manziel at A&M, not that he's Johnny, but he's got that 'I'm the man' attitude about him. I think when you've got that as the leader, that their team thinks, 'he thinks we're going to do it, we're going to get it done.' You look at the results and they've been up to the task."

That sounded a bit like the attitude one Evan Weaver has brought to the table.

"You get a guy like Evan, who totally believes in himself," DeRuyter said, "I remember he didn't go through our first spring (due to injury), and he told me that summer he was the best defensive player we had, I said 'okay big boy, let's see you come the fall,' and sure enough he's earned the right to be the guy that lays it down. Our guys respond to that, when you have a guy that's confident in his ability, works his tail off, then produces, I think everybody is inspired by it."

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