UCLA'S PASSION PLAY BRUINS USE OLD SPEECH AS MOTIVATION.

Byline: BRIAN DOHN Staff Writer

BERKELEY -- It was 1972, Ducky Drake was retiring as UCLA's track coach and the football team was preparing to play California, a school which long stuck in Drake's craw.

Ed Kezirian, who played on that 1972 team, said Drake gave an impassioned mid-week speech, imploring each player to whip the man across from him and earn some respect from their rivals to the north.

The speech became an annual rite until Drake's death in 1988, and the following year, his wife, Rose, gave it.

``Ducky always felt real competitive (Cal) week,'' said Kezirian, also a former UCLA assistant coach. ``I think it came from all the years Ducky, when he was at UCLA in the '30s and '40s and '50s, Cal was clearly the big brother, big sister. We got all the hand-me-downs.''

Respect, again, was a central theme this week in Westwood as UCLA (4-4 overall, 2-3 Pacific-10 Conference) looks to end a three-game losing streak today with an upset at heavily favored and 10th-ranked California.

Since Tennessee steamrolled Cal 35-18 in the opener, the Pac-10-leading Bears (7-1, 5-0) have won seven straight, and their high-powered offense has scored at least 41 points five times.

UCLA, meanwhile, has not scored three touchdowns in a game during its losing streak, and is coming off an embarrassing 22-point loss to Washington State at home.

``They don't respect us. There ain't no doubt in my mind,'' UCLA fullback Michael Pitre said. ``They're looking at us, 4-4, lost three games in a row. There's no way in heck they respect us as a football team.''

When Drake, who spent more 60 years as a student, coach and trainer at UCLA, gave his speech, the Bruins did not lose to Cal, rolling off 19 straight wins. In the years following his death, however, the speech was not given, and UCLA lost four straight (1991-94) to the Bears.

That's when Kezirian asked then-coach Terry Donahue about resurrecting the tradition in 1995. Kezirian continued to give the speech during Cal week until late in former coach Bob Toledo's tenure, and when fourth-year coach Karl Dorrell took over, Kezirian began telling the tale again.

An animated Kezirian did the honors Wednesday, audible from more than 100 yards away.

The veterans, who have heard the speech before, sometimes giggle.

``You have to think of it as actually Ducky saying it,'' Bruins junior offensive lineman Shannon Tevaga said. ``People get hyped. Afterward, you start laughing. It's pretty funny.''

The freshmen, who hear it for the first time, are often left with dropped jaws.

``I liked it. It kind of blew me away,'' freshman running back Chane Moline said. ``I didn't know really all that history behind Cal, and how we beat them (19) times in a row. It's very interesting.''

Yet, it may not matter today.

Cal leads the Pac-10 in passing (268.5 yards per game), is seventh nationally in total offense (440.5 ypg) and ninth in the nation in scoring (36.1 ppg). Quarterback Nate Longshore (Canyon High of Canyon Country) is precise in directing the offense, and has a stable of some of the Pac-10's best talent in which to distribute the ball.

Longshore is completing 62.5 percent of his passes, and has 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Receiver DeSean Jackson (36 catches) and Lavelle Hawkins (31 catches) have combined for 1,120 receiving yards and 10 scores.

Meanwhile, tailback Marshawn Lynch has 907 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. He is averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

Defensively, Cal is led by cornerback Deymeion Hughes, who has seven interceptions, but the Bears are also last in the conference in passing yards allowed (246.5 per game).

``Whoever we play this week probably wouldn't have much respect for us,'' UCLA quarterback Patrick Cowan said. ``But it's Cal. Kind of the little joke going around is we want to be state champs, so we have to get this game to be state champs. It's going to be a great game up there. We want it bad.

``I was sitting around and thinking about our games, and if we were undefeated this week going into Cal, we still knew it would be a tough game. So what's the difference? So we're going to go up there and give it our all.''

Just like Ducky Drake would have implored.

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UCLA (4-4, 2-3) at NO. 10 CAL (7-1, 5-0)

- Brian Dohn