It wasn't how anyone drew it up, but it was exactly how it was always going to go. In true Big Game fashion, Cal defeated rival Stanford after climbing back from 14 points down in a game that once looked like it had no chance of going the Bears' way Saturday at California Memorial Stadium.

Down 21-7 with 6:26 to play in the third quarter, following a fumble from Nohl Williams on a kickoff, it looked like the Bears might say goodbye to their three-game winning streak against the Cardinal.

Eventually, the Cal defense held Stanford to a field goal attempt on the ensuing drive only for the play to go awry on a mishandled snap leading to a turnover on downs for the Cardinal. That marked the climb back for the Bears leading to 17 unanswered points and an eventual 24-21 victory.

The botched field goal try reignited the sellout crowd at California Memorial Stadium and sparked the Bears, who buckled down defensively and found a rhythm on offense to mount the comeback.

Following a field goal in the third quarter, after the missed 3-point try from Stanford, the Bears dominated the fourth thanks to impressive play from their quarterback.

Cal (6-5, 2-5) has not lost a Big Game with Fernando Mendoza on the roster, and he put together one of his most impressive stretches over the final 15 minutes highlighted by two touchdown passes that helped earn the Bears their sixth victory of the season.

After finding receiver Jonathan Brady on a 30-yard connection for a touchdown to cut into the Cardinal lead, 21-16, Mendoza pioneered one of the best drives of his career beginning with 7:45 to play at the Cal 2-yard line.

Needing 98 yards to take a lead, the Cal quarterback began to move the Bears down the field as he carved up the Stanford defense on a drive that ate up 5:05 off the clock. Mendoza hit receiver Nyziah Hunter over the middle for 36 yards to set up the go-ahead touchdown.

On third-and-11, Mendoza looked to his right to find Brady in single coverage in the end zone for a 22-yard score before a 2-point conversion for Jaydn Ott pushed the lead to 3 points with just 2:40 to play.

That left the game in the hands of the defense, whose lackluster start allowed the Cardinal (3-8, 2-6) to open up its 21-7 lead with 6:33 to play in the third quarter.

On the final defensive drive, the Bears came up with a sack from David Reese and Cheikh Fall on the first play followed by a broken up pass for Xavier Carlton on second down. After an incompletion on third down, outside linebacker Serigne Tounkara and inside linebacker Teddye Buchanan pressured Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels out of the pocket and his throw down the sideline to Tiger Bachmeier was broken up by Craig Woodson on fourth down sealing the win for the Bears.

"I thought there were some obvious moments in the game where it's the time to step up and pump your chest out at adversity," Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said. " ... There's a time when small people and weak people can find a way out. It's like holy smokes, 'Not our day, not going my way.' A lot of people would do that, quite honestly, but the defense bowed up and forced a field goal. And then, bad snap. No blood.

"We get the ball back. It doesn't go perfect, but that swing in the game was huge."

Mendoza, who has now passed for 3,004 yards this season for the Bears, has been focused on putting together a game-winning drive this year. There have been opportunities but it has yet to come into place as much as it did Saturday against the Cardinal.

The redshirt sophomore finished his day with 299 yards passing on 25 completions and 36 attempts against Stanford with 156 yards coming in the fourth quarter.

He had eight passes of at least 15 yards in Saturday's win, including three of at least 30 yards, plus a big 50-yard run in the second quarter to set up Cal's first touchdown of the game.

"Our offense has worked so hard for this moment, this was the moment," Mendoza said when asked about his thoughts before guiding the 98-yard drive to put the Bears ahead in the fourth quarter. "This is what you play for if you want to come out victorious, and it was very emotional."

Defensively, the Bears turned the tide late in the game following the touchdown drive that put Stanford up 21-7 in the third quarter. The next four drives ended with two punts and a turnover on downs twice.

Cal allowed the Cardinal to gain just 30 yards in the fourth quarter helping lead to the fifth Big Game victory in the last six seasons for the Bears.

"We really had our backs against the wall at that point," Buchanan said about the game-changing sequence following Stanford's misplayed field goal attempt in the third quarter. "I think we got a third-down stop around the 50-yard line and forced them to punt. They had that really good punt leading to the 98-yard drive.

"Obviously, that final drive, getting a stop on fourth down was huge. Allowing the offense to ice the game for us was massive. I think, really, just that whole fourth quarter was full of pivotal moments, and we were happy to perform well and do what we needed to do."

Added Woodson: "Honestly, it was surreal seeing how the defense really locked into the moment. Backs against the wall, nobody believed on the other side that we were gonna come back and win that game and get those stops that we needed, but I think in the moment everybody believed. Everybody came together and said we have to go make a play.

"Just for everybody to come together and make those stops, it was critical, and I think that that momentum really pushed the offense and gave them momentum to go score because like I said, bro, ain't no losing to Stanford. I'm just proud of this team, honestly."

Cal honored its 10-2 team from the 2004 season between the first and second quarters Saturday. The star quarterback from that team, Aaron Rodgers, spoke with the team Friday about the significance of the Big Game and Cal's rivalry with the Cardinal.

That message resonated with the players helping to eventually provide the Bears with the motivation to mount their comeback win.

"Having him come into our team meeting yesterday and speak about the Cal-Stanford rivalry has to be the most important rivalry of his life," Mendoza said. "... It means a lot to us, and I think it showed everybody that, especially now with the transfer portal you don't really understand how big the Big Game is until you play in one, so to have him and that prominent of a figure make those remarks about the Big Game, I think it really, definitely inspired the team."

Now the Bears are official bowl eligible and will look to close out the regular season with an upset victory on the road at SMU next week.