At the beginning of this season-before the Cal football team's opening win over Michigan State, before the slip-ups in Maryland and Arizona, and before the Bears had even played a down in 2008-linebacker Zack Follett was asked about his goals for the year.

"I'm not going to have another year to do this, so I've got to leave a name for myself," the senior said. "Definitely getting that Axe back is one of my goals."

He didn't feel the need to name another.

On Dec. 1, 2007, Follett watched from the sideline as Stanford cornerback Nick Sanchez intercepted Nate Longshore to spoil Cal's last scoring threat in a 20-13 loss at Stanford Stadium. For the past year, he and the Bears (6-4, 4-3 in the Pac-10) have experienced something that two full graduating classes before them never did-an offseason without the Axe in hand.

On Saturday, when the Cardinal visits Memorial Stadium at 12:30 p.m. for the 111th edition of the Big Game, Follett finally gets his shot at achieving that goal-one that, despite Cal's recent slide, rings as true as it did three months ago.

"It's important to me, especially being a senior," Follett said. "Any Stanford alumni I ever come across, the rivalry that I'll come back to, I'll be able to say that I have bragging rights."

Bears coach Jeff Tedford, meanwhile, enters Saturday with a new attitude towards the rivalry. Prior to last season, he had won five straight Big Games, dating back to his arrival in Strawberry Canyon.

"It becomes more special when you lose the Axe," Tedford said. "I feel that after having it five years straight, you can really feel its loss. You feel the pain that comes with not having it and the pride that goes along with it."

Ironically, although Stanford (5-6, 4-4 in the Pac-10) comes into this game with the Axe in hand, it still has the most to gain on Saturday in terms of postseason implications.

The Cardinal is one win away from becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2001, and the Big Game is the final contest on its schedule.

"That was our goal from the beginning of the season-to make it to a bowl game," Stanford tailback Toby Gerhart said. "This is the biggest game of our season ... There's a lot on the line."

Much of the Cardinal's success on Saturday will depend on Gerhart, the major player in the resurgence of Stanford's running game, and his ability to move the ball against Cal's sturdy 3-4 defense.

With quarterback Tavita Pritchard averaging just 120.6 passing yards per game, Gerhart has compiled 1,033 rushing yards through 11 games to become just the fifth 1,000-yard rusher in Stanford history.

Gerhart and senior Anthony Kimble-who has a career-high 688 yards on the ground this season-have combined to give Stanford the No. 3 rushing offense in the conference, after five straight years of finishing no higher than ninth in that category.

"Our strength is the running game," Gerhart said. "We take pride in our running game and we're going to try to run the ball, and Cal's strength is their run defense ... I think whoever wins the battle of the trenches is going to come out on top in this game."

Tedford agreed, citing the need to swarm to the 6-foot-1, 232-pound Gerhart, although Follett said that the Cardinal's downhill running style might play more to Cal's defensive strengths.

Meanwhile, the Bears' offense will be trying to reestablish the run after being held under 100 yards on the ground in each of its last two games-both losses on the road. Cal struggled especially in moving the ball on first and second downs last weekend against Oregon State, finding itself in a number of third-and-long situations.

The Bears have dropped three of their last five games and, unlike Stanford, don't have the fight for bowl eligibility to use as motivation. Still, Tedford believes that last year's game at Stanford Stadium should be motivation enough.

"We had won five in a row and the pain of not winning and not keeping the Axe has given them a lot," Tedford said. "Especially the seniors, they understand that they want to go out with the Axe.

"I don't think motivation will be a problem."

Tags: BIG GAME, ZACK FOLLETT, JEFF TEDFORD, CAL FOOTBALL