Cal Football: Bears from SoCal Enjoy Wins in L.A. in 2018 and 2019

Cal wins in Los Angeles have been rare. Trash talking goes on because players are so familiar with each other

Lost amid the achievements Cal realized with its 28-18 win over UCLA on Saturday night was the accomplishments of the 30 Cal players from southern California.

Although Cal lost at home to USC this year and to UCLA last season, the Bears beat both those teams in Los Angeles -- knocking off the Trojans at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2018 to end a 14-game losing streak to USC and winning at the Rose Bowl on Saturday after losing five of the previous six games to the Bruins, including last season's 37-7 beat-down by UCLA.

"It's honestly a dream come true," said Cal receiver Nikko Remigio, who is from Orange, Calif., and had a second straight producive game with five catches for 58 yards against UCLA after amasssing 157 receiving yards against Stanford. "The Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, I grew up watching college games here. To finally be able to play in the Rose Bowl and get wins both in the Coliseum and the Rose Bowl means the world to me."

Southern California is the biggest recruiting area for Cal, and the familiarity with many of the UCLA players from the area adds to the rivalry, with a lot of trash talking between receivers and defensive backs.

Remigio could be seen giving an earful to UCLA defensive back Darnay Houston after Houston, who is from Pasadena, argued about being called for pass interference while covering Remigio.

"I said, 'Bro, you know what you were doing,'" Remigio said, with a big smile on his face. "'You try to talk trash,' and I said, 'Bro, you saw the flag.' Yeah, it's a lot of fun."

Cal always plays the Los Angeles schools on the road in alternating seasons. The last time the Bears beat USC and UCLA on the road in consecutive seasons was 1999 and 2000, when Cal knocked off UCLA in Pasadena 17-0 in 1999, then beat USC 28-16 at the L.A. Coliseum in 2000. But even that was tainted because Cal ultimately had to vacate that 1999 win over UCLA. 

The last official time Cal accomplished that two-season road sweep in Los Angeles was 1970 and 1971, when Cal beat USC 13-10 in L.A. in 1970 and topped UCLA 31-24 on the road in 1971. Pepper Rodgers was the UCLA coach at the time, and John McKay coached USC, while Ray Willsey was the Cal coach both those years in what was then the Pac-8.

Both those games were played at the Los Angeles Colisuem, making the current Coliseum-Rose Bowl sweep distinctive.