Some people think of the California Golden Bears and envision the majestic Monterey pines of Strawberry Canyon or a quarterback lineage that includes Steve Bartkowski and Aaron Rodgers.

The rest of us? Try an Arizona State football team that rarely walks into Memorial Stadium with its composure intact.

"We've lost every time we've played there since 1999, which seems odd to me, almost like a hex," ASU President Michael Crow said, smiling. "It's strange. The weirdest thing."

It's true. The Sun Devils have dropped their past five games in Berkeley, and as someone who has witnessed each fiasco up close, today's meeting has my attention. It is another barometer to measure the coaching chops of Todd Graham.

Early returns have been promising. Against NAU, ASU didn't play to the level of its lesser competition. Against Illinois, the Sun Devils unveiled a dynamic offense. Against Utah, the coaching staff showed creativity on both sides of the ball.

Today's game will reveal how much Graham learned from his team's other road trip, a 24-20 loss in Missouri on Sept. 15.

The defeats at California have revealed a stunning lack of focus and urgency.

"The hardest thing you have to do is win on the road," Graham said. "That's not easy. ... I'll probably focus more on correcting the mistakes we had from our first road game more than I will focus on what we did in 1999."

It's a good strategy but doesn't make the Sun Devils' struggles at California any less fascinating.

The five consecutive losses have come against good Cal teams, bad Cal teams and mediocre Cal teams. They have occurred with three different head coaches at the helm (Bruce Snyder, Dirk Koetter and Dennis Erickson) and under sunny skies and dreary ones.

The sole commonality is how ASU utterly underachieves when it enters Memorial Stadium.

In 1999, the first meeting in the five-game streak, ASU blew a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost 24-23. Keep in mind this was during the reign of one of the least accomplished coaches in Bears history, Tom Holmoe, who never posted a winning record in five seasons. The victory over ASU, plus three others in 1999, were eventually forfeited due to ineligible players.

In 2004, the Dirk Koetter-led Sun Devils were 6-1 and ranked 20th. The Bears were 17th. Through its first seven games, ASU had never lost a fumble. In that meeting, it lost four. California's junior college transfer quarterback, Aaron Rodgers -- yes, that one -- led his team to a 27-0 victory.

The game was the first the Sun Devils played at Memorial Stadium with Jeff Tedford as coach. He still has ASU's number. The Sun Devils have lost eight of nine meetings with him.

Graham is having none of it.

"Each year it's a different team," he said. "They're not even the same guys. I don't see what that has to do with anything besides being something to talk about."

And write about, too.

In 2006, ASU again had a meltdown. The Sun Devils, 3-0 coming into the game, lost 49-21 after California scored four touchdowns in a six-minute, 31-second stretch.

Quarterback Rudy Carpenter was mortified after the game, openly questioning his ability. Koetter was confident and said: "There's nothing wrong with our season. Today hurts. Today's disappointing. We're 3-1 and we've got (eight) games left."

ASU finished 7-6 and Koetter was fired. Administrators referenced the collapse in discussions about the coach's dismissal.

Dennis Erickson didn't find success on the road against the Bears, either, although he did lead the Sun Devils to their only victory over California (a 31-20 victory at home) in the past decade.

ASU's stage fright in Memorial Stadium was a factor in the two games coached by Erickson. Both occurred on dreary, rainy days that mirrored ASU's performance.

In 2008, a young Sun Devils team lacked composure from the start. It fumbled twice, was sacked twice and was tagged with a false start. And that occurred during their first 11 plays.

Two years later, the Sun Devils had two weeks to prepare for the game, yet were dominated 50-17. ASU committed nine penalties to the Bears' two.

Erickson accepted blame.

"I know how it works," he said. "It comes down to the head coach. And it should. ... I'm the head of the program. I take the heat."

The Sun Devils finished 6-6 and a year later Erickson was fired following a 6-7 season.

In recapping Erickson's career, administrators privately referenced the 2010 loss at one of the coach's low points at ASU.

"When you're involved in coaching a football team, what you did last year has nothing to do with what you're going to do this year," Graham said.

So maybe a hex isn't part of the equation. A victory today could prove it.

Reach Boivin at paola.boivin@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin. Listen to her on "Big Guy on Sports" every Monday at 12:30 p.m. on XTRA Sports 910.

Today's games

Arizona State at California

When: 1 p.m.

Where: California Memorial Staduim, Berkeley, Calif.

TV/radio: FX/KTAR-FM (92.3).

INSIDE: The Sun Devils could follow the Golden Bears' lead when the time comes to renovate Sun Devil Stadium. C4

No. 18 Oregon State at Arizona

When: 7 p.m.

Where: Arizona Staduim, Tucson.

TV/radio: Pac-12 Networks (Cox Channel 75, 1075 in HD)/KFNX-AM (1100).

INSIDE: The Wildcats and Beavers are two of the surprise teams of the early season. C4