Quite a catch for the Bears

California sophomore wide receiver DeSean Jackson likes UCLA. He really does. After all, his cousin, Marcus Everett, along with several former teammates and friends play for the Bruins.

But when the Bears face UCLA today at Memorial Stadium, Jackson will not hold back from adding more misery for the Bruins, who have lost three games in a row.

“Oh yeah, I want to put on a show for my hometown people,” said Jackson, who attended Long Beach Poly High and spurned UCLA and USC to attend Cal. “Every time I play against a school from back home, I want to punish them. Hurt them.”

As if the Bruins, 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference, needed any more pain. UCLA has not won a game since Oct. 7 and needs to win at least two of its last four games to have a shot for a bowl bid.

In Cal, the Bruins will play a team that has won seven games in a row and is No. 10 in the Bowl Championship Series standings. The Bears, who lead the Pac-10 at 5-0, are loaded with big-play threats, led by tailback Marshawn Lynch, quarterback Nate Longshore, linebacker Desmond Bishop and cornerback Daymeion Hughes.

And let’s not forget Jackson, who has scored 18 touchdowns in 19 games at Cal and might be the most dangerous of all.

“It’s crazy the way we’re always going at it, trying to top each other with big plays,” he said about playing for the streaking Bears, who average 6.5 yards a play and have scored 33 touchdowns this season. “We have a lot of guys who love to work hard. When you get respect on this team, you know that you’ve done something good.”

In eight games, Jackson is second in the Pac-10 in touchdowns with 10, including two on punt returns. He leads the Bears in catches with 36 and is fourth in the conference in receiving yards a game at 77.8.

“With their offense, you have to make sure that you don’t give them too many big plays,” UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell said about Cal, second in the Pac-10 in scoring and total offense. “All of those guys have a chance to break a game open.”

Cal’s main strength is a power running game with Lynch, the Pac-10’s leading rusher, and backups Justin Forsett and Marcus O’Keith. The Bears average 171.4 yards a game on the ground and have scored 15 rushing touchdowns.

They run behind an experienced and physical offensive line, which features seniors Erik Robertson and Andrew Cameron and junior Brian De La Puente. After being struck with injuries early in the season, the Bears will have a healthy front for the first time this year.

“We have to go up there and follow our basic game plan to shut down the run early and force them to go to the air,” said UCLA defensive end Justin Hickman, who leads the Pac-10 in sacks with 10.5. “Then we get after their quarterback.”

In Longshore, the Bears are getting the leadership they lacked last year. After playing poorly in a loss at Tennessee to start the season, Longshore has been solid in passing for 1,792 yards and 17 touchdowns with six interceptions over the last seven games.

Longshore has been particularly effective completing big plays, with 36 pass plays of 20 yards or more.

“They have a good arsenal of talent and they’ve been very productive and opportunistic in making plays,” Dorrell said. “Their offense has been doing that since the beginning of the season. This will be the right time for us to start to ... make those type of plays too.”

UCLA’s main problem has been an inconsistent offense, which averages 321.2 yards a game and has made senior Justin Medlock the nation’s leading field-goal kicker.

Sophomore quarterback Patrick Cowan, who will make his fourth start in place of injured Ben Olson, has thrown five touchdown passes, but he’s 10th in the Pac-10 in passing yards a game (112.3).

Junior tailback Chris Markey is fourth in the Pac-10 in rushing, but the Bruins rank seventh in the league in yards a carry at 3.6.

“We have all the tools, we have all the talent, we have everything,” senior wide receiver Junior Taylor said. “It’s just about us ... executing and scoring touchdowns. We know that we have a great kicker, but we need to score touchdowns because it’s costing us ballgames.”

Although Cal’s defense features three of the best defenders in the Pac-10 -- tackle Brandon Mebane, Bishop and Hughes -- the Bears have not been dominant as a unit. They rank last in the Pac-10 in pass defense (246.5 yards a game) and eighth in total yards given up (375.9).

Cowan said the key will be whether the Bruins are able to take advantage of any chances they get today and not worry about their losing streak.

“We have to be ready to do whatever we need to do in order to get a win,” he said. “The morale of the team is real high. It’s amazing through the last few weeks how well we’ve stuck together. It’s real positive.”

But UCLA also understands that another loss may change all of that.

“We know all our issues up to this point,” Dorrell said. “It’s really about us getting it done now and this is a great opportunity for us to get that done this week.”

*

lonnie.white@latimes.com