Jackson reemerges just in time for Golden Bears.

Byline: Chris Hansen The Register-Guard

DeSean Jackson started the season as one of the marquee and most exciting players in college football. Saturday against Oregon, he finally played like one.

The receiver for California had a career-high 11 catches for 161 yards. He also scored his first two receiving touchdowns of the year on catches of 25 and 31 yards in the second half to help the sixth-ranked Golden Bears beat No. 11 Oregon 31-24 at Autzen Stadium.

"This game was the one where I needed to do that," said Jackson, a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate. "I stepped up and made big plays."

Until Saturday, the speedy, 6-foot, 172-pound junior had scored only on returns and trick plays.

He took a punt back 77 yards for a touchdown against Tennessee in the season opener, and had a 73-yard end-around for a score against Colorado State in week two.

He came into Saturday's game against the Ducks with only 17 receptions for 151 yards and no scores. He also had been struggling to overcome a sprained thumb he suffered against the Volunteers.

That all changed against Oregon.

"DeSean had a big day," Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. "He's healthy now, and they had some coverages where we could get him singled up a little bit, and when you single him up like that there's an opportunity to get him the ball."

Jackson scored the Bears' first touchdown late in the third quarter when he got Oregon cornerback Walter Thurmond III to bite on an inside move and found himself alone in the end zone for a 25-yard score that made it 10-10.

Early in the fourth, Jackson gave Cal its first lead, 24-17, when he caught a short pass from quarterback Nate Longshore, then blew past Oregon corner Jairus Byrd down the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown. All told, Jackson had seven catches for 120 yards in the second half as the Bears rallied from being down 10-3 at the break.

`(The coaches) came in at halftime and got on us,' Jackson said. `Coach Tedford, our receivers coach, offensive coordinator all said we've got to come out there and change some things up. It was crucial for us to come out and make big plays for us to win this game.'

Tedford said a simple change in strategy at halftime opened up more opportunities for Jackson.

"In the first half we really tried to establish the run, and they did a nice job of shutting that down," Tedford said. "We came out in the second half, started throwing more on early downs and making some big plays."

And not just on offense.

The Bears defense came up big in the fourth quarter as well. They forced four turnovers, including the deciding fumble by UO receiver Cameron Colvin on a hit by cornerback Marcus Ezeff near the goal line with under 20 seconds left.

"I was basically just trying to take his head off," Ezeff said . "On that play ... they did a pick with their receivers, and I had to go around the pick and I saw Cameron just stretching out."

Ezeff admitted he didn't realize Colvin had fumbled at first.

"I thought he scored," Ezeff said. "In my mind I was like `(Dang) I'm going to get in trouble by coach.' '

"This is a huge win for us," Jackson said. "The last time I checked, everybody had us as underdogs and we came out here and handled our business the way we needed to do."

Thomas Boyd / The Register-Guard

CAPTION(S):

DeSean Jackson (1) celebrates with Robert Jordan (2) and Lavelle Hawkins after the Golden Bears defeated the Ducks.