 In the pre-season, this game was named as one of candidates for the 10 most important games of 2007, with head coach Pete Carroll's Trojans national title hopes hinging on proving themselves against a veteran in-conference rival.By November 2007, the game was about pride with both teams national title hopes dashed by USC's losses to Stanford and Oregon, and Cal's 3 in a row loss to Oregon State, UCLA, and Arizona State.Played in the Memorial Stadium in Berkeley under intense rain, the Golden Bears donned throwback uniforms honoring 1975 All-American Cal quarterback Joe Roth.