We will have another live chat Thursday, usual time of 1-2 p.m., to wrap up the season. See you there.

Today was the last practice of the 2008 season. And it was a cold one at Memorial Stadium. Jeff Tedford kept his ears warm by wearing a Santa hat all through practice.

The biggest news really wasn’t much of a news flash — Nate Longshore will start at quarterback Saturday. Longshore had taken every first team rep this week, including Thursday, so it wasn’t a big surprise when Tedford announced Longshore as the starter after practice. Tedford said Longshore has simply been practicing too well not to have him play.

“He’s just had a couple of really good weeks of practice,” Tedford said. “He’s really sharp throwing the ball and has a really good command of what we’re doing. He’s really done a nice job.”

Tedford said the shoulder injury Longshore incurred against Oregon has been lingering, but he finally appears to be completely healthy.

“I think his shoulder is finally healthy,” Tedford said. “He has a lot of zip on the ball, a lot of command of the offense. He’s really throwing accurate.”

Tedford added that “He’s really had two of the better weeks I’ve seen Nate have at practice.”

It was a very lively last practice — perhaps the players were trying to keep warm — with a lot of hooting and hollering and tons of enthuasiasm as the team huddled on the field afterward. Tedford spoke of the seniors getting emotional, with wide receiver Drew Glover breaking down as he talked about it being the seniors’ last practice while the team stretched to begin the session.

It was also the last practice at Cal for offensive line coach Jim Michalczik, who is moving on to Washington after the Emerald Bowl.

The team had Christmas breakfast together and Christmas dinner together. There will be a pep rally at Yerba Buena Gardens tomorrow at 11 a.m and the team will hold a walk-through at AT&T Park later in the afternoon.

HI, everyone. Hope everyone is having a great holiday season. Just wanted to take a break from Christmas Eve festivities to give a quick update from today.

The Bears moved practice from Memorial Stadium to the nearby Rugby Field so they could get some work in on grass, in preparation for the surface at AT&T Park. They practiced under a steady drizzle.

Nate Longshore once again took all the first team reps, a further sign that he will start Saturday. Jeff Tedford once again said he won’t name a starter until Thursday, but it’s hard to believe now that Longshore wouldn’t start after working exclusively with the first team the past two days.

Tedford also confirmed that Sean Cattouse has taken over one starting safety spot over Brett Johnson. He said Johnson is healthy (he missed the Big Game with a shoulder injury) and Cattouse’s new role is performance-based.

The Bears had a team dinner tonight on Fisherman’s Wharf. A handful of players will visit a local hospital Thursday. The team will hold its last practice of the season in the afternoon.

As we speak, Cal is in transit to the San Francisco Marriott, where it will spend the week for the Emerald Bowl. The Bears will bus back to Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for practice.

After the Bears check in, they will go to a welcome dinner along with the Hurricanes. That’s all that’s on the schedule for today’s first day of the week.

Tomorrow, Cal will practice in the late morning then there will be a press conference at AT&T Park at 2 p.m. Then the Bears and Hurricanes will take part in a bay cruise and Alcatraz tour.

To kick off bowl week, some reading:

–The Hurricanes acknowledge they have to be careful because of the Bears’ ability to intercept passes.

–Here’s a guy that Cal receiver Sean Young can relate to: A Miami player making the most of his sixth year of eligibility.

–Cal received an oral commitment who could ease the loss of fullback Will Ta’ufo’ou.

One week until the Emerald Bowl…

Cal practiced this morning and it seemed to be an energetic, focused two-hour session. Several recruits were on hand, including giant offensive lineman Charles Ragland from Colorado. Ragland was wearing a tank top and shorts in the frigid weather, but somehow he really didn’t appear to be too cold.

Speaking of recruiting, Cal reportedly has picked up another top prospect, offensive lineman Charles Siddoway of Eugene, Oregon. Both scout.com and rivals.com are reporting he has given the Bears an oral commitment. Siddoway is the No. 19 offensive tackle in the country, according to scout.com. He passed on schools such as hometown Oregon and Alabama to come to Berkeley. Apparently, the departure of offensive line coach Jim Michalczik didn’t bother Siddoway too much.

Back at practice, Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley split first team reps. The team won’t practice again until Tuesday, and coach Jeff Tedford said that’s when he’ll likely make his decision.

The Bears will check into the San Francisco Marriott late in the afternoon on Monday, shortly after Miami arrives at the Hyatt Regency. Cal will bus back to Memorial Stadium for practices Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

In other news, Miami coach Randy Shannon has suspended three more players for the Emerald Bowl, but none of them figured to make a significant impact. Junior tight ends Richard Gordon and Tervaris Johnson and freshman linebacker Jordan Futch will each miss the game for violating a team rule. Gordon has three catches this season, Johnson plays on special teams and Futch was going to miss the game anyway because of a concussion.

Meanwhile, Tedford announced his own suspension today — backup running back and special teams player Tracy Slocum has been suspended for the game for violating team rules. Tedford wouldn’t expand on Slocum’s transgression.

OK, not literally. The Bears aren’t going anywhere. But they returned to the practice field tonight and started preparing for the Hurricanes.

Before today, Cal had practiced three times since the end of the season and those sessions were more like training camp or a bye week, with no scout teams and many younger players getting the bulk of the reps. Today it felt like the season again — kind of.

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It’s official. The live chat has been moved to Friday. Same time, 1-2 p.m. See you there.

The usual Thursday live chat has been postponed. We’re trying to arrange it for tomorrow. I will let you know when I get confirmation. It probably will be at the same time.

Cal center Alex Mack (I seem to be typing his name a lot lately) has won the Morris Trophy for the second straight year. The award goes to the top offensive and defensive lineman in the Pac-10, and is special because it is voted on by the conference’s starting offensive and defensive linemen. Only two other players have ever won the award in consecutive seasons.

–ESPN.com’s Ted Miller has his season-review of the Bears.

–You might be surprised who was named Miami’s most valuable player.

–The Hurricanes’ players have their sights set on San Francisco.