T.C. Ostrander passed for 151 yards and an early touchdown to Mark Bradford, and Stanford snapped its five-game losing streak against Cal with a 20-13 victory tonight, the Golden Bears' sixth loss in seven games during an incredible collapse by the former No. 2 team.

Nick Sanchez intercepted two passes in the 110th Big Game for the Cardinal (4-8, 3-6 Pac-10), who earned their first home conference victory under rookie coach Jim Harbaugh in the most rewarding way possible for Cardinal fans enduring their sixth straight losing season.

Stanford won for just the sixth time in 29 games, but beat Cal coach Jeff Tedford for the first time in six tries. With Sanchez making the biggest plays, the Cardinal held Tedford's offense to 13 points or fewer for just the fourth time in his six seasons.

Stanford didn't even need any trickery on the 25th anniversary of The Play, Cal's famed five-lateral kickoff return for the last-second touchdown that won the Bay Area schools' 1982 meeting. Harbaugh platooned two quarterbacks to run his steady offense, and the Cardinal defense made it look easy to shut down Tedford's talented collection of playmakers.

Nate Longshore went 22-of-47 for 252 yards and two second-half interceptions in another awful performance for the Golden Bears (6-6, 3-6), who were the nation's second-ranked team before their first loss in early October. Justin Forsett rushed for just 96 yards, and the passing attack floundered until the final minutes.

Cal got a last chance when Stanford freshman Jeremy Stewart fumbled near midfield with 2:43 to play. The Bears drove to the Cardinal 19, but Lavelle Hawkins dropped a sure TD pass before Sanchez dived to make his second interception at the 8 with 1:55 left.

Bradford then made a nifty first-down catch on the Cal sideline, allowing the Cardinal to run all but 6 seconds off the clock. After Longshore's final pass fell incomplete, Stanford fans stormed the field — and Sanchez led a charge of players to grab The Axe, the trophy awarded to the winner.

Both teams came into the first Big Game at Stanford's gorgeous renovated stadium with five losses in their previous six games. The Cardinal lost at home last week to perhaps the worst Notre Dame team ever, while Cal had a bye after a 14-point loss to Washington, the Pac-10's last-place school.

Harbaugh's first team wasn't much better than the last two under coach Walt Harris, but Harbaugh picked up victories over USC and Cal that should keep Stanford fans warm all winter.

Cal, which hadn't even trailed against Stanford since 2003, finished in a tie for seventh place in the Pac-10 standings. Its hopes for a minor bowl berth rested on Arizona State beating Arizona later Saturday.

If the Wildcats posted an upset, the Bears likely would stay home for the postseason — an unbelievable development for fans with national title hopes just two months ago.

DeSean Jackson, the Cal junior who caught seven passes for 127 yards in last year's Big Game, wore his pads and helmet on the sideline but didn't play with a bruised quadriceps.

Hawkins, the other member of Cal's talented receiving trio, dropped at least three key passes — including that sure over-the-shoulder TD pass with 2 minutes to play.

Cal has been a disaster since the week after the Bears held on for a victory at Oregon in late September. The Bears reached No. 2 in the national rankings one week later, and were in position to be No. 1 before a last-second home loss to Oregon State.

Losses to UCLA, Arizona State, USC and Washington followed, with only a three-point win over Washington State in between.

Ostrander made his first start at quarterback since late September, but Harbaugh also used Tavita Pritchard, who passed for 45 yards and another score.

Ostrander hit Bradford for a 28-yard score on the first play after Longshore fumbled on Cal's opening drive, giving Stanford its first lead over the Bears in four years. Cal came back with a 91-yard drive ending in Jordan's 46-yard TD catch down the middle on a perfect pass from Longshore, the junior whose inconsistency over the past six games was perhaps the Bears' biggest problem.