In spite of multiple days of frustration, a handful of positive COVID tests, and players publicly voicing their frustration, along with a USC game being postponed, head coach Justin Wilcox's message to close out the evening was one of optimism.

"Choose optimism. There are reasons to be negative," Wilcox said, "there are reasons to be frustrated. Those aren't unfounded. However, we'll find some good in this, our team will, our fans will. We will make the most of it. Everybody has their problems, everybody has their issues, we'll work through ours and we'll do the absolute best that we possibly can. Whether it's following the guidelines that they give us or going out and competing, playing ball, we'll do the absolute best that we can. Be optimistic, because I think there's a lot of folks out there that choose the other, because that's the easiest route."

WATCH: Wilcox, Daltoso and Scott on Aftermath of COVID Outbreak

It's a salient point, as Cal has a bit to be pessimistic about. They sit at 3-6 with three games to go, needing a sweep of the California schools (something that hasn't happened since 1958). They'll now have more stringent guidelines to follow, as the Berkeley Public Health department sent out a statement referring to the football team's 'environment of ongoing failure to abide by public health measures.' Wilcox noted that the public health department has a very difficult job to do, and that he didn't want to get into a back and forth with the agency, but felt they had followed the rules they were given.

"We have followed the guidelines through the athletic department," Wilcox said, "the university and the city of Berkeley. We have health professionals housed in our building, at our practices, on our planes, in the weight room and the training room, there are people here to help us on a daily basis. Is everybody perfect in following every protocol, I don't know that I can say that. I have never had a meeting regarding the egregious non-compliance of our players. Do we have to remind people to put their mask on, have I been told that? Yeah absolutely, but I also think that there's folks in the city of Berkeley walking down the street, going to church, dinner or whatever, or students on campus that fall into that category. I can't confirm that, but I think that's probably likely."

Either way, 44 individuals, players, coaches and other staff, have all tested positive as a result (not all of these are players, that number is closer to the mid-20s). Cal will now test at least twice a week until they're under 3 positives for 14 days, then weekly until they're at no positives for 14 days.

"We're going to continue to follow the guidance of the campus and the city," Wilcox said, "If they need to change that guidance, which happens when you have a positive case or multiple positive cases, we'll do what they ask. From here on out, we'll continue to test, that's what we anticipate. There have been other measures where we've adjusted in terms of our daily operation, and we'll continue to work with those protocols until we have the team back and we can hopefully work through this."

With that, there's a change in protocol. Weight lifting has been moved back outside, as it was a year ago. Meals are grab and go, and Cal's practice did not have everyone due to absences. In spite of that, there's still optimism among the players.

"Today we went out to practice," offensive lineman Valentino Daltoso noted, "everyone was in really good spirits,we still got guys like Mike Saffell coaching the offensive line. The only thing we can do is to keep following the protocols and playing football, we're still trying to make a bowl game. As frustrating as it is, I think everyone understands our goals as a team, it's really important that we go out there, compete as hard as we can with the guys we have."

The attention turns to Stanford now, as Cal is optimistic they'll get the vast majority of their team back for the 124th edition of the Big Game. Until then, the Bears are putting their heads down and going.

"Our mentality toward the end of the year has been to put our heads down and battle," safety Daniel Scott said, "despite the things that we can't control. Speaking for myself, I feel optimistic, I feel very confident. I'm real excited for that game and getting the Axe back."