Bibby Stressing Importance of Cal Game

Usually USC Coach Henry Bibby talks only about the game immediately facing his No. 21 Trojans. And playing No. 1 Stanford Thursday is enough for USC to concentrate on.

But Bibby let down his guard briefly Tuesday, acknowledging Saturday’s game against California carries a similar weight. The Bears may be unranked, but they are tied with USC for fourth in the Pacific 10 Conference, and they have won the last six meetings with USC.

“We have to play both games like ‘This is the game that gets us where we want to get this year,’ ” Bibby said. “These two games this weekend are our championship games.

“We’ll see what we’re made of. That’s what this weekend is going to do. Do we really want to go on the road and win games? Do we want to make a run at the Pac-10? Do we want to get into the tournament? These games will show what kind of character we have.”

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Fox Sports Net spokesman Dennis Johnson said Tuesday his company had not received many calls on not televising the USC-Stanford game.

Fox Sports Net is obliged to show the Arizona-Oregon game, and Fox Sports Net 2 is broadcasting the UCLA-Cal game.

“We scheduled 10 USC regional games but unfortunately did not choose this weekend,” Johnson said.