Cal’s weekly press luncheon usually doesn’t have as many storylines the week after a bye week. The previous game at this point seems like a distant memory.

Still, there was much to discuss Tuesday, from the Arizona Wildcats to the Pac-10 race to other aspects of the team.

Much of the discourse was about the 2006 game in Tucson, which derailed Cal’s national championship hopes. The Bears laid an egg in the game and didn’t appreciate the way the Wildcats celebrated afterward. Several older players have already said they are using that memory as motivation this week, and even coach Jeff Tedford admitted it’s on the team’s mind.

“This is a new team, but I think the experience last time we were there was a pretty devastating experience,” Tedford said. “It’s very hard to get that type of thing out of your mind.”

There were several younger players at Tuesday’s luncheon, but one player who showed up that remembers the 2006 game well is center Alex Mack.

“The memory of losing to these guys two years ago really spoiled the national championship for us,” Mack said. “That brings up some bad memories. There’s more reason to work hard. That really stung two years ago. It’s something that we need to make sure doesn’t happen again.”

Tedford usually shows the team a motivational video before each game. You can bet there will be some clips of the Wildcats celebrating that 2006 win this Saturday.

As for this year’s edition of the Wildcats, Tedford called their offense the best they have faced yet. Arizona runs the spread offense with experienced and talented quarterback Willie Tuitama leading the way. Receivers Mike Thomas and Terrell Turner comprise one of the most explosive duos in the Pac-10.

“Their whole offensive group is probably the best that we’ve played,” Tedford said. “This is a very explosive offense; I would say the most dangerous that we’ve played so far.”

Tedford has spent the past couple of weeks raving about the performance of punter Bryan Anger, who ranks ninth nationally at 45.1 yards per punt. This despite playing a couple of weeks feeling the lingering effects of a sprained knee. I’ll have more on Anger later in the week, but suffice to say Tedford is excited about having Anger as a weapon.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’ll be an All-American punter,” Tedford said. “The only thing is consistency. He’s just a redshirt freshman. He’s played five games, and I’m sure he’s just going to get more comfortable as we go. He’s extremely talented.

“He’s got it all going. He can kick them deep and he can kick them hight. He caxn spot kick it. There’s no  question in my mind he’s as good a punter as I’ve ever been around.”

Not only do Anger’s punts draw oohs and ahhs from the crowd, even his teammates marvel at his work.

“You see him kick balls and all you can do is look up and say, ‘Is that coming down anytime soon?’,” defensive end Cameron Jordan said. “I don’t know how you get to be that good at kicking. I just watch sometimes. We’ll be in the middle of a drill and we’ll all just turn our heads and look and we’re just watching for a second.”

Tight end Cameron Morrah attended the luncheon and talked about Arizona tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is getting a lot of attention lately as one of the tougher matchups in the conference. You can tell Morrah is looking forward to using the presence of Gronkowski as motivation.

“I kind of like flying under the radar,” Morrah said. “Hopefully, with all the attention on him, it will just be a great game for me to come out and show people what I can do.”

Cornerback Darian Hagan also came by. Hagan has really emerged as a dependable corner the past couple of games and is giving the Bears one of the best outside tandems in the Pac-10. He said he is looking forward to facing Arizona’s highly regarded receivers.

“I love challenges,” Hagan said. “I’m always ready for anybody at anytime. I’ll be ready for this one. I can’t wait.”

Hagan talked about the influence of fellow corner Syd’Quan Thompson, who has emerged as an all-conference caliber player this season. Hagan said Thompson’s story is inspirational because he started his career with such a tough game at Tennessee in 2006 and has come so far.

“Syd is a big influence because of how far he came along, from having a terrible game that everybody saw on national TV to being one of the top corners in the nation,” Hagan said. “That’s just motivation for me to keep pushing and keep working, watching him and try to learn techniques from him to try to be on that level, too.”

Hagan also had the quote of the day when talking about his increased production in stopping the run: “I actually like tackling now since I’ve been doing it so often.”

Redshirt freshman Sean Cattouse made his first appearance at a press luncheon after a fine performance against Arizona State, one that included his first career interception. Cattouse talked about that first pick, a terrific play that combined both instinct and athleticism when he came off his man and backpedaled to get in front of a Sun Devils receiver after some scrambling by ASU quarterback Rudy Carpenter.

“I just saw Rudy scrambling,” Cattouse said. “I kind of came out and saw a few guys open. I kind of drifted back and saw the ball go up and turned my head and went up and got it. It was amazing. I thought a thousand things before I touched the ground. I can’t really explain it. It was definitely big for me.”

Although Jordan had a breakout game against Arizona State, one in which earned him Pac-10 Player of the Week honors, he said he now has to build off that performance and get better.

“I just had a lot of fun in that game,” Jordan said. “Hopefully I can continue to get better. Hopefully, I didn’t just plateau in that game. That’ll suck.

“It was just one game that I did well in. Hopefully I can do it against U of A. This past game showed that I can play just as good as anybody. Now it’s about improving and becoming an even better D-lineman.”

Jordan gave an interesting perspective about Cal’s loss at Arizona in ‘06. He was actually on a recruiting trip to Arizona that weekend and was in the Wildcats locker room after the game as they celebrated. “Everyone was going crazy,” he said.

The Bears hit the practice field again tonight. Tailback Jahvid Best (dislocated left elbow) practiced in full capacity. Tedford said at the press luncheon that his availability for Saturday’s game will be decided in a day or two. Darian Hagan (knee tendinitis) also practiced fully. 

Quarterbacks Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley continued to split first team reps evenly. Tedford reiterated that he hasn’t decided yet on a starter for Saturday.