(21) California (9-1) at Southern Miss (6-4)

Now that a Rose Bowl bid is a strong possibility for California, Jeff Tedford is more willing to talk about it.

Tedford and the fourth-ranked Golden Bears can lock up an at-large spot in the Bowl Championship Series standings, and put themselves in a position for a Rose Bowl bid when they visit Southern Mississippi in the teams’ regular season finale Saturday.

Tedford, who has been picked as the Pac-10’s top coach, refused to talk about BCS standings for weeks before finally giving in and acknowledging the team’s chance to earn a Rose Bowl berth.

“It’s something we need to keep an eye on now,” Tedford said. “That being said, the only thing we can control is how we prepare to play against Southern Miss.”

The Golden Bears (9-1, 7-1) will likely play in the Rose Bowl for the first time in 45 years if No. 1 Southern California ends up in the Orange Bowl. California barely held on to the fourth spot in the BCS ahead of Texas after the Longhorns ended the season with a 26-13 victory over Texas A&M last week.

Tedford says he won’t run up the score to increase the team’s standing in the BCS. Even with the change in the BCS formula this season to de-emphasize computer evaluations, the nation’s top coaches have wrestled with this ethical dilemma again. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops admittedly padded the final score against Nebraska earlier in the season, but regretted it later.

“We’re going to play our hardest, and if we get to the fourth quarter and we’re fortunate enough to be ahead, we’re going to play the (reserves) of our team,” Tedford said, noting Cal’s 384-131 scoring edge over its opponents this season. “What do you have to do? Do you have to score 70? Is that worth it?”

Cal received the Pac-10’s most all-conference player awards with nine. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was joined by running back J.J. Arrington, receiver Geoff McArthur, offensive linemen Marvin Phillip and Ryan O’Callaghan, defensive lineman Ryan Riddle, linebacker Wendell Hunter, defensive back Matt Girdano and special teams player Byron Storer.

Rodgers has passed for 2,097 yards and 21 touchdowns with just six interceptions this season. He completed 11-of-14 passes for 120 yards and a touchdown in the Golden Bears’ 41-6 win over Stanford on Nov. 20.

This matchup was originally scheduled for Sept. 16, but was pushed back because of Hurricane Ivan, giving Southern Mississippi (6-4, 5-3 Conference USA) less time to prepare for North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 14.

“The bowl game right now is the last thing we’re worried about,” Golden Eagles quarterback Dustin Almond said. “We’re just focused on Cal, and we’ll get to the bowl game after Cal.”

With its regular season pushed back, that cuts into valuable preparation time for the bowl for Southern Mississippi, whose final bye week was Oct. 30. The Golden Eagles are closing the season with games on five straight Saturdays.

Southern Miss accepted the bowl bid Sunday night after snapping a three-game losing streak and becoming bowl eligible the previous day with a 26-21 win over Alabama-Birmingham.

Almond, who was fighting through back spasms, completed 10-of-14 passes and threw for two touchdowns in a 17-point third quarter. Jeremy Young got the start, but he was just 4-for-11 passing for 33 yards.

If the Golden Eagles had lost, this game would have been a must-win for them to qualify for their third straight bowl game.

California won the only matchup between the teams, 34-2 on Aug. 30, 2003.