When Cal and UCLA meet Saturday night, the Bears will see a familiar face in a place they know well: Mateen Bhaghani. The former Cal kicker, who drilled 15 points against UCLA in 2023 and was perfect on all four field-goal tries and all three extra points in Cal’s 33-7 win, is now set to line up against his old team for the Bruins.
He is far from the only one. UCLA’s roster is loaded with ex-Cal players, a direct reminder of how often the transfer portal turns old teammates into opponents.
Five former Bears are now wearing UCLA colors: Bhaghani, running back Jaivian Thomas, wide receiver Mikey Matthews, defensive lineman Tyson Ford and outside linebacker Ryan McCulloch. Bruins linebackers coach Vic So’oto was also Cal’s outside linebackers coach last season.
Thomas, who went to Oakland’s McClymonds High School, isn’t expected to open the game as UCLA’s starting running back, but he should still see action against Cal. He led the Bears on the ground in 2024 with 626 yards and a 6.3-yard average per carry before transferring after the season.
He told the Los Angeles Times, "I'm going back home, about 15 minutes away from Berkeley. It's where I started my college career," Thomas told the Los Angeles Times.
"I want to stamp that game, and once I found out we played them, it was marked on my calendar. I'm excited for that game, and I want to go down there and get this win, start off the year right."
Bhaghani’s path has taken a similar turn. He made 8 of 9 field-goal attempts for Cal in 2023, then converted 16 of 20 last season for UCLA.
He told the L.A. Times, "It's almost a dream come true to go play at the school that my career started at," Bhaghani told the L.A.
Times. "I'm going to enter the game as any other, but it's a significant game for me, and I definitely want to perform to my level."
Matthews, who spent one season at Cal in 2024, caught 32 passes for 272 yards and a touchdown there before moving on to UCLA, where he posted 33 catches for 348 yards and two touchdowns last season. He may be in the Bruins’ starting lineup tonight.
He also described the atmosphere he expects in Berkeley, saying, according to the L.A. Times, "We definitely have to come out fast.
It's going to be pretty packed over there, so we just got to let them know that we're going to be on that timing and everything over there," Matthews said, according to the L.A. Times.
"But it's going to be cool going back to see everything, and I like that environment and atmosphere over there because they have great fans over there as well."
Ford, who played in seven games for Cal in 2025, logged three tackles for the Bears and is another name who could be in UCLA’s starting group. McCulloch, meanwhile, started the 2025 season as Cal’s outside linebacker, but he appeared in only four games before a season-ending injury. He finished with 11 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, and is likely to miss Saturday’s opener because of an injury.
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Cal Opens A New Era With One Rivalry Test Fans Will Feel
Memorial Stadium will get an immediate pulse check when Cal and UCLA open the season in Berkeley, with both teams starting fresh at 0-0 and plenty of new faces on both sidelines. It is the kind of September matchup that tells you a lot about where a program stands, especially when one side is under a new head coach and the other is trying to make a clean first impression in its own building.
For Cal, the spotlight is even brighter because Tosh Lupoi is back as the first Golden Bears alum to coach the program since 1986, and he gets to introduce that era in a game fans know well. The Bears also bring back quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele after a strong freshman season, which gives this opener a little extra intrigue against a UCLA team with its own fresh start and revamped roster. [Read more 🡒]