Time for Bruins to Bear Down : College football: Another loss to Cal would be fifth in a row for UCLA.

Rod Smalley expects a filibuster today.

“Cal and Washington, I think they’re the teams that talk the most,” said Smalley, a UCLA inside linebacker who is no stranger to taunting a downed running back. “They’re always in your ear, a cocky team.”

California has plenty to talk about and reason to be cocky. A victory today would give the Bears five in a row over UCLA, something no Pacific 10 team has done in 60 years. “I’ve never beaten Cal, and I’m starting to think about them almost as much as SC,” said Smalley, a senior.

Quarterback Wayne Cook agreed.

“I don’t want to be with my children 10 years from now, watching television and they see Cal and say, ‘Did you play against them?’ ” he said. “And I would say, ‘Yes,’ and then they would want to know how I did. I don’t want to have to say I never beat them.”

That streak doesn’t bother UCLA Coach Terry Donahue as much as the one the Bruins are on now. They have lost three games in a row, and today’s is pivotal if a respectable season is to be salvaged.

Sure, Cal uses the streak in recruiting against UCLA. “When we beat them 18 times in a row, we used that too,” Donahue said.

“There’s only one way to stop it and that’s to win.”

Cal, 2-2 overall and 1-0 in the Pacific 10, and UCLA (2-3, 0-2) are teams going in different directions. The Bears played their first two games, losses to San Diego State and Hawaii, with many of their starters on the sidelines because of various ailments. Victories over Arizona State and San Jose State came when some players returned and when some young players picked up the slack for the injured.

Six UCLA starters will sit out today because of injuries. Young players are going to have to step up for the Bruins to win.

If they don’t?

“You like to think that nobody is going to quit, but this is a big, big game for us,” Donahue said. “We need some big plays. We need to make something happen. We need to win a game, just to win.”

UCLA hasn’t since the second game of the season, a lackluster 17-10 victory over Southern Methodist. Since then there have been losses by 28 points to Nebraska, 21 to Washington State and 27 to Washington. But against Washington, the Bruins played better than at any time since the season-opening 25-23 victory over Tennessee.

“I really felt good about our effort and tempo and enthusiasm,” Donahue said.

“There were some real positive things Saturday, despite the fact that we didn’t win the game. We’ve got to carry over from that, and we’ve got to fix some things like the fourth-down play, like giving up a 79-yard run. Fix things like missing field goals.”

All of those things were broken against Washington. UCLA kicker Bjorn Merten missed three first-half field-goal attempts, but the Bruins were behind by only 20-10 before breaking down offensively on a fourth-down play on the Huskies’ nine-yard line. Napoleon Kaufman had a 79-yard run during a career-best 227-yard day.

Those things linger.

“It’s kind of hard when you’re down,” Smalley said. “You’re not thinking about the upcoming game. You’re thinking about what happened last week instead of letting that game get out of the way because there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Cal is having no such trouble.

“I think we’re feeling a little bit better about ourselves,” Bear Coach Keith Gilbertson said. “Early, we suffered so many losses with what happened to us during the summer, and then the guys we lost during training camp, that we were really struggling the first couple of weeks just to put a complete team on the field. We’ve gotten some guys back and gotten in shape and have been fortunate enough to win a couple of games, so I think our self-esteem is a little different.”

Cal’s problems had started when linebacker Paul Joyner was seriously injured in a car wreck during the summer. Other players fell victim to injuries during preseason practice, and the Bears had scored only 38 points in their first 11 quarters. Then two fourth-quarter touchdown drives beat Arizona State, and a 55-0 victory over San Jose State a week ago was a real self-esteem booster.

They are led by quarterback Dave Barr, who has completed 86 of 132 passes for 981 yards and four touchdowns. His favorite targets are Na’il Benjamin with 20 catches and Iheanyi Uwaezuoke with 18. Tyrone Edwards has taken over the starting tailback job from Reynard Rutherford, but both play extensively.

UCLA BRUINS TODAY’S GAME

* Opponent: California Golden Bears.

* Site: Memorial Stadium, Berkeley.

* Time: 12:30 p.m.

* Records: UCLA 2-3, 0-2 in Pacific 10; Cal 2-2, 1-0.

* Radio: XTRA (690/670).

* TV: Channel 7.