As former high school football stars in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, Mika Kane and Tyson Alualu found themselves on opposing sidelines for several years.

But for the past three years, the duo has teamed up to wreak havoc on opposing offenses for the California Golden Bears.

Kane, a 2005 Kamehameha graduate, was named The Advertiser's Defensive Player of the Year as a senior and Alualu, a 2005 Saint Louis alum, also was on the first team.

Cal, which finished 7-6 last season, including a 42-36 win over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, is picked to finish fourth in the Pacific-10 Conference in a preseason media poll released last week.

"The expectations are extremely high for both the defense and the entire team, and Mika and Tyson figure to be an important part of that," defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi said. "We've gone to five straight bowl games, even climbed to No. 1 in the land last year for about 45 minutes, but our players are never content and the expectation is to compete at the highest level and be among the nation's best."

The Golden Bears, who gave up an average of 378.8 yards (214.4 passing, 164.5 rushing) per game last season, have gone from a 4-3 to 3-4 defensive alignment this season.

"We've always had a 3-4 package to our scheme, but now there's just a heavier emphasis on the 3-4," Lupoi said. "Because of our personnel, this type of defense really plays to our advantage."

Kane, a 6-foot-2, 311-pound senior, will compete at nose tackle while Alualu, a 6-3, 290-pound junior, will be the strongside defensive end.

"I love it," Alualu said. "It's definitely better for our defense. It's kind of rough (on the defensive linemen), but we have such great linebackers. Our job is to basically pick up two blockers and not to let any of the offensive linemen get to the second level and touch our linebackers."

The switch has been especially tough for Kane, who has been battling opposite of preseason All-America center Alex Mack everyday.

"It's hard enough adjusting to a new defense, but Mack is one of the best centers in the country," Kane said of the 6-4, 316-pound Mack, who is on the watch lists for the Rimington (top center), Lombardi (top offensive or defensive lineman) and Outland (top interior lineman) trophies. "It's been a very big challenge, but I learn a lot from him and he learns a lot from me."

Kane said he and Alualu helped each other get through the tougher times.

"Honestly, the both of us probably wouldn't be here this long if it wasn't for each other," Kane said.

Alualu agreed: "When I first came up here, it was real bad. All I wanted to do was go back home. It was just a different environment and everything was going so fast. Mika and I, we'd stay around each other and that kept our mind off going home."

Tight end Savai'i Eselu (Moanalua '07 of Honolulu), outside linebacker Solomona Aigamaua (Saint Louis '07 of Honolulu) and defensive lineman Aaron Tipoti (Pac-Five/Word of Life '08) are reserves for the Golden Bears.

"Something special that we have here at Cal is our strong Island connection," Lupoi said. "Not just from Hawai'i, but Polynesian kids from the Bay Area, Southern California, Nevada, all over. It's a culture with great respect on and off the field and a lot of the time, these guys aren't the most vocal, but they've brought a great family sense to our team and I think our players have fed off the Polynesians on our team as far as having overall respect for each other and working hard on and off the field."

Cal opens at home with Michigan State on Aug. 30.