Fernando Mendoza threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns, Jonathan Brady had two touchdown catches and the go-ahead score and California rallied to beat Stanford 24-21 in the first Big Game as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Mendoza triggered a four-play, 82-yard scoring drive with a 50-yard scramble to the Stanford 32 and a penalty against the Cardinal advanced the ball to the 22. His run was the longest by a Cal quarterback in at least 25 years, according to Cal athletics.

In Cal's go-ahead touchdown in the final quarter, he had catches of 36 and 22 yards, he latter for a touchdown. Both were finger-tip catches.STAT OF THE GAME: Fernando Mendoza was sacked six times, but still led the Bears in rushing with 35 yards.

Fernando Mendoza connected with Jonathan Brady for a pair of touchdown passes in the final 10:09 on Saturday afternoon, rallying California to a 24-21 victory over rival Stanford in the annual Big Game's first Atlantic Coast Conference edition in Berkeley,

It is finally here. It has been a long season, but it is finally time for arguably the richest and most storied rivaly in all of college football to take place.