Cal lost their top passer and runner and faded on senior night in Berkeley.

Christopher Brown left the game after the first drive after a targeting penalty by USC DL Christian Rector, while QB Chase Garbers went down on a run, landing on the opposite shoulder he injured against Arizona State earlier in the year. While the Bears evened the score at 10 after Garbers' injury, the Bears spiraled down from there to a 41-17 loss on Senior night to USC.

Among the injuries on the night included Evan Tattersall, who took a hit under the chin on a kickoff return and had to be carted off the field. Tattersall, a redshirt freshman, was moving his extremities, and was taken to a local medical facility as a precaution.

The Bears struggled all night with USC's collection of top-tier wideouts. USC had three receptions of 45 yards or more, one each to Michael Pittman, Drake London, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Elijah Hicks fell down on two USC touchdown passes, one to Pittman and one to St. Brown. Kedon Slovis finished with 4 touchdown passes with 406 yards on 29-35 passing.

Cal started strong, with a touchdown on their first possession. Brown, while in, broke free for 29 yards on two carries, but absorbed a targeting penalty. Trevon Clark drew a pass interference penalty, and Deshawn Collins, who ended up taking the lion's share of the RB reps, scored his first career touchdown from five yards out. He scored in garbage time on a 34 yard run, going over the 100 yard mark for the first time in his career.

There wasn't much else in terms of offense for Cal on the night, who only managed another field goal on the drive Garbers got injured on. USC, behind Slovis, finished the game with 10 chunk plays in the passing game. The Bears allowed 400+ passing yards for the second consecutive game.

Cal also saw Ashtyn Davis get injured after a punt return, and while the Bears safety came back in to fair catch kick returns, he had a brace on his left knee and Trey Turner took over at safety for him.

Drops early downed the Bears, as Nikko Remigio dropped an early potential touchdown before the field goal and a critical 3rd and 19 where he was open. Collin Moore dropped a potential 1st down as well. At the end of the day, it might have led to a bit more momentum early, but the Bears didn't do anywhere near enough to win this contest.

Modster was intercepted twice in the second half by USC, one of which the Bears forced a fumble on and got back (thanks to Deshawn Collins popping the ball out).

Cal falls to 5-5 (2-5) on the year, needing a win over Stanford or UCLA to become bowl eligible for the second year in a row.

- Deshawn Collins had only the second 100 yard rushing performance for the Bears this year, after Chris Brown had one in the opener against UC Davis.

- This is the third time Cal has lost the turnover battle, first two coming against UC Davis and Oregon State

- This was only the third time Cal has allowed over 40 points under Justin Wilcox, the previous two coming against Oregon in 2017 and 2018.

- Cal lost the explosive play battle 12-5 (Passes of 15+ yards, Runs of 10+). All of Cal's explosives came on the ground.

- Cal somehow had more 1st downs than USC, with 21 to USC's 18.