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One of themes of the Pac-12 football season is the North catching up to the South, which last year made a case for being judged the best division in college football.  This week's conference schedule offers the North another chance to advance its cause, with intra-divisional matchups of California at UCLA, Washington State at Arizona and Colorado at Oregon State. For now, a look at Thursday's game:  Cal at UCLA, 7 p.m. MDT, ESPN UCLA coach Jim Mora's mood on the weekly Pac-12 media teleconference is a good barometer of the Bruins' performance. They haven't won a game in October, that's quite apparent. In last Thursday's episode, the Bruins lost 56-35 to Stanford, with the outcome decided after three quarters, at the latest.  UCLA's hopes of a recovery revolve around stopping Cal quarterback Jared Goff, who's coming off a five-interception night in an Oct. 10 loss at Utah, and getting more consistent play from freshman QB Josh Rosen. This is a good test for Cal, to see how the Bears respond after their first defeat. UCLA is the oddsmakers' favorite, but Cal showed enough strength at Utah despite its mistakes to make me a believer in the Bears. California 31, UCLA 27.  – Kurt Kragthorpe