The Cal football team has done everything in its power to prevent last year's you-know-what from becoming a public relations disaster.

Wielding a new slogan -- "Every game counts" -- and sporting jerseys without names, the Bears are purportedly a team without individuals. In public, coach Jeff Tedford and his players have said and done all the right things thus far in the preseason.

Now after all the bleeding, gaping and bandaging, they're finally set to go and do what's most natural -- bunch through that north tunnel like it's any other weekend.

"It's really one game at a time," Tedford said. "It doesn't have much to do with last year or next year or anything."

In just a handful of days, Cal will host its season opener against Michigan State, a team that, like the Bears, is on the cusp of various top-25 national polls, in a tilt between two teams poised for improved results.

Though Cal could play the role of Redeem Team backed by a gold-clad crowd at home, the Spartans aren't exactly the happiest campers either following an up-and-down season of their own, marked by six losses by a touchdown or less.

The Bears embark on a two-week road trip following their anticipated opener, easing right into their Pac-10 slate for a matchup against Washington State on Sept. 6 before hopping on a cross-continent flight to College Park, Md., to meet Maryland the very next week.

With Memorial Stadium hosting six of Cal's remaining nine games, the Bears resume their conference battles after welcoming Colorado State -- likely the lowliest "C" team of a typical A-B-C non-conference scheduling format employed by many up-and-coming programs -- on Sept. 27.

As a whole, 2008 could be viewed as a favorable year for the Bears as far as scheduling goes. Cal plays Arizona State, Oregon, UCLA and Stanford at home, though a pair of mid-November roadies against Oregon State and USC might prove a rather stiff challenge. The Bears haven't won in the Coliseum since 2000.

Furthermore, if he retains his starting gig, quarterback Kevin Riley will have a chance to exorcise his demons against the Beavers, who escaped with a 31-28 win last year that sent Cal spiraling down with a 1-6 finish in the regular season.

But Tedford maintains that the past is the past, which isn't necessarily a source of further motivation. Truth be told, as is always the case with a new year, the Bears are a different team as they approach the 2008 season.

"I'm really, really fired up and anxious to see how we perform," Tedford said. "I'm not making any prediction, I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm just really anxious to see how this team has come together and what we're going to be like when we take the field."

Aside from changes under center, the most dramatic overhaul can be found in a defense that moved to a 3-4 formation.

The new look aims to benefit from Cal's strength at linebacker. Alongside the usual suspects in seniors Anthony Felder, Zack Follett and Worrell Williams, junior Eddie Young is slated to roam on the strong side. Key reserves Devin Bishop, D.J. Holt and Michael Mohamed also provide depth at the position.

Among others, true freshman backer Mychal Kendricks showed he has enough mettle to hang with the veterans during fall camp and will join the rotation as well.

"We've got a lot of talented guys, guys that we feel like can do the job, so the competition is tough (at the position)," linebackers coach Kenwick Thompson said. "We feel really good about the choices we have, and we're just trying to get the right guys out there."

The most unproven unit, meanwhile, remains the wideouts. While it's not the first time the Bears have had to revamp their receiving corps in recent memory, one might take less of a risk predicting standouts in the stock market than on the Cal flanks.

Redshirt freshman and 2007 Scout Team Player of the Year Michael Calvin seems to have penciled his name into the starting lineup, but is still recovering from a sprained toe. Seniors LaReylle Cunningham and Sean Young could emerge as solid contributors, but their forte seems to lie in their reliability rather than big-play potential.

With higher ceilings comes more uncertainty for Cal. Freshman Marvin Jones looks a lot like DeSean Jackson in that No. 1 jersey, though he's several inches taller. At 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, transfer Nyan Boateng boasts all the physical tools in the world, but coaches have at times lamented his lack of consistency, which might have cost him a starting role.

The one sure thing about this year's unit, though, is its size with nine receivers listed at 6-foot-1 or taller.

"In certain situations, (their size) could possibly affect some play calls," newly hired offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti said. "They have a nice catching range. Not only are they tall, they've got long arms and the catching range is pretty big."

The offense being relatively green, Cignetti certainly has his job cut out for him, but the fact that three-fifths of the offensive line is returning is a very good place to start. And behind Playboy Preseason All-American center Alex Mack, tailback Jahvid Best seems to have fully recovered from a hip injury that drew a premature end to his freshman campaign.

Redshirt freshman Shane Vereen should provide the second half of the one-two punch that Cal so often employs in its backfield, while sophomore Tracy Slocum could spell either one of the speedsters.

"Now it's their turn," running backs coach Ron Gould said. "There's not a junior or a senior that's in front of them ... Those puppies are learning how to bite right now, and by the time we start the first game, they'll be well-versed in learning how to bite and know how to hold on when they do bite."

Analogies aside, 2007 might have already been a perfect lesson in holding on for when the Bears do bite again.

Tags: CAL FOOTBALL, JEFF TEDFORD