In 1937, the Great Depression was loosening its grip, World War II was four years into American's future, Lou Gehrig hit .351 for the Yankees, and a group of young men took Cal to football glory.

Coached by a gruff but caring military veteran with a nickname that belied his stature, the Bears went through their regular season undefeated, blemished only by one tie. On Jan. 1, 1938, they soundly defeated Alabama 13-0 in the Rose Bowl and claimed the national championship.

In the 67 years since then, Cal has not won another Rose Bowl. Of course, the first step to winning a Rose Bowl is playing in one, and Cal has done so only four times since 1938. It made its last visit in January 1959.

The current Bears could end that Rose Bowl string on New Year's Day, but they are not going unbeaten, something no Cal team has done since that 1937 team. The surviving members of what has become known as the Thunder Team liken this year's team to theirs.

"I see a lot of the '37 team in the '04 team. One for all and all for one, " said Perry Conner, a reserve guard who missed most of the '37 season with a knee injury. "There are 11 hats on the ball on defense, and that's the way our guys were."

The selflessness of that group is mentioned frequently when the players reminisce, but the team certainly had its stars. Halfbacks Vic Bottari and Sam Chapman and center Bob Herwig are all in the College Football Hall of Fame. End Perry Schwartz, guard Vard Stockton and quarterback John Meek joined them as first-team All-Americans that year. Still, it was humility first.

"Bottari used to say anybody could run over the goal line behind blockers like he had," Conner said. That may be, but it was Bottari, nicknamed Vallejo Vic for his roots, who went over the goal line most often.

"Vic was not too tall," said Milt Pollack, a tackle in 1937. "He was a little round, but not fat, nor was he all that fast. He just really was a terrific running back...

"And Chapman was the kind of running back to fool you. He was always leaning on you. Even when you walked down the street with him, he would lean against you, sometimes push you off the sidewalk. That's just the way he was, and that's the way he ran."

The two halfbacks, along with the rest of the team, had more than one job.

"You've got to remember everybody played both offense and defense," said Ray Rosso, a reserve back who would go on to a career in junior college coaching. "Back then there were more versatile athletes than are being coached to play one position today. Bottari not only was a great runner, he was one tough defensive player."

When Sports Illustrated picked a Pac-10 (nee Pacific Coast Conference) all-century team in 2001, O.J. Simpson, Marcus Allen and Ernie Nevers were the offensive backs and Bottari joined Kenny Easley and Ronnie Lott in the defensive backfield.

Coach Leonard "Stub" Allison, who at 5-foot-11 was not exactly a stub, was in his third year at Cal in 1937.

"Stub Allison was an excellent coach," Pollack said. "He was also known as 'Top Sarge,' because of his military background and attitude. He would say you are not hurt until the bone is sticking out through the skin."

Recalled Rosso, "Stub was the prototype of the coach of that era, like Pop Warner, Bernie Bierman. He had a tough manner that fit in with football of that era. But he was also very considerate of the players at the bottom. ... He encouraged me to stay with it even though I was a marginal player in every way."

Allison's concerns went beyond football. "He stayed in touch with the professors to make sure guys were doing OK in their classes," Conner said. "Most everybody graduated."

His 1935 team went 9-1 but lost the PCC outright title and fell out of bowl consideration with a 13-0 defeat at the hands of the Stanford "Vow Boys" in the Big Game.

The Bears were just 6-5 in 1936, but the seeds were being sown. Freshmen weren't eligible for the varsity, playing their own schedules and in 1934, '35 and '36 the Cal frosh were unbeaten. The talent was there, ready to be led.

In 1937 the Bears rolled through their first five foes by an aggregate score of 115-13. They were ranked No. 1 in the country when they hosted 11th- ranked USC on Oct. 23 in what was billed as a showdown. The Bears won easily 20-6. Wrote Bill Leiser in The Chronicle, "Along with the 75,000 who watched, the Trojans themselves are wondering where, if anywhere in the land, is a team which can stop the roll of California's Thunder Team." The nickname stuck.

The next week the Bears went to Los Angeles and walloped UCLA 27-14. The football team had captured the imagination of the campus, kindling a devotion among the students that sometimes superceded friendship.

"Four of my friends drove down for the UCLA game," said retired attorney Borden Price, class of '38. "But halfway down the car tipped over and one of them, Merrill Goodall, got a concussion. The other three got the car back up, took Merrill to a hospital, left him there and kept going. They weren't going to miss the game."

The next week came the only downer, when Washington fought Cal to a scoreless tie. "Perry Schwartz went down on the opening kickoff and hit their best runner so hard he knocked him out," said reserve end Robert Wilheim. "There were arms and legs flying everywhere."

But the Bears, who recovered that fumble on the 21 and moved as far as the 10, couldn't score then, or the entire afternoon. Field goals were not common in 1937; even PATs were hit-and-miss.

With Bottari ailing and their invincibility in question, the Bears went north the next week to take on Oregon and crushed the Ducks 26-0. Stanford was taken apart in the Big Game, and it was on to Pasadena.

"We didn't really know a whole lot about Alabama," Rosso said. "I think we had a couple of scouting reports, but that was it."

Alabama (9-0), champs of the Southeastern Conference, had given up just 20 points while scoring 225. Wary of the Crimson Tide, Allison did some rare lineup juggling.

"Before the Rose Bowl Allison demoted three of us because he thought we weren't enthusiastic enough," Pollack said. "Right away Alabama drove down to our end of the field, and it looked like they were going to score, so Stub put me in. The first play I got my nose messed up. There was blood all over. But we stopped them. ... After the game, Stub apologized to me."

The Tide featured what was considered at the time a wide open attack. They threw 13 passes in the Rose Bowl, but more of them were caught by Cal defenders (five) than 'Bama receivers (three).

The Cal offense that day was multiple: Bottari right, Bottari left and Bottari up the middle. He carried the ball 34 times (a Rose Bowl record that stood for 42 years) for 137 yards and scored both Cal touchdowns.

"One of them I still don't know how he did it," Rosso said. "He almost never went outside, but he went around end, and just outran two halfbacks. ... He wasn't the fastest guy and they had the angle on him, but he got into the end zone anyway."

With no BCS to argue with them, the Bears claimed the national championship. To the end they stayed in character. "The Rose Bowl committee wanted to give watches to the 15 guys who played," Conner said. "But those guys said the whole team should get them. The committee said no, only the ones who played. So we said, 'Keep your watches.' "

After graduation many of the players went into the military. Pollack played some pro football and ran a successful Hollywood art gallery. Chapman spent 11 years playing major league baseball. Bottari, who died in 2003, headed a successful insurance business. Wilheim became an executive with the Emporium. Rosso became a junior college football coach. Conner had a military career.

United by their success, the Thunder Team members tried their best over the years not to lose track of one another.

"We had regular reunions," Conner said. "We had the last one in '94. There was a pretty good turnout for that one, considering, but now there are only four of us left."

The last Rose Bowl winner

Cal's powerful 1937 team still holds many modern school records

-- Most consecutive games without a defeat in season: 11 (10-0-1)

-- Most consecutive games without defeat: 18 (17-0-1*)

-- Best two-year record: 20-1-1 (1937-38)

-- Fewest TDs allowed in a season: 5*

-- Most shutouts in a season: 7*

-- Fewest points in a season: 33*

-- Fewest completions allowed in a season: 42

-- Fewest first downs allowed in a season: 60

-- Fewest passing yards allowed in a season: 432

-- Fewest rushing yards allowed in a season: 858

-- Fewest total yards allowed in a season: 1,290

* includes 1938 Rose Bowl