Stanford fans Nancy Jamison and Pat Markevitch had a front-row seat to one of college football's most iconic moments, the ending to the Cardinal's rivalry game against California in 1982.

When the Stanford band descended from its section of Berkeley's Memorial Stadium and began the ill-fated excursion to the field, Jamison and Markevitch filled the empty seats left behind and watched the five-lateral kick-return mayhem unfold. They couldn't believe what they were seeing, as Cal's Kevin Moen trampled over a trombone player to seal "The Play," in one of the most famous finishes in college football history.

They left the stadium devastated.

Fast-forward to 1990. Once again, Jamison and Markevitch sat together at Memorial Stadium. They erupted when Ed McCaffrey's 19-yard touchdown catch pulled the Cardinal within one point with just a few seconds remaining. But their mood turned after Stanford elected to go for a two-point conversion -- "Denny Green doesn't play for ties," the television announcer pointed out -- and the Bears' John Hardy intercepted the conversion attempt.

With Cal leading 25-24, Bears fans stormed the field, but there were 12 seconds remaining, enough time for Stanford to attempt an onside kick.

"I turned to Pat and said, 'They haven't learned anything in eight years, have they?'" Jamison remembers. "Both of us knew at that point that something nice was going to happen, but we just didn't know what."

The next 12 seconds would cement the 1990 Big Game as one of the most memorable in the history of this 123-year-old rivalry. There was quirkiness, drama and cameo appearances by future NFL players, coaches and even politicians.

Twenty-one years before he would become Stanford's head coach, David Shaw was a redshirting freshman wide receiver on that 1990 Cardinal team. He was just one of many at that game who would go on to make a name for himself in football. Cardinal assistant Brian Billick would lead the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl title 10 years later; the head coach, Dennis Green, would also go on to coach in the NFL, and assistant Tyrone Willingham would later guide the Cardinal to a Rose Bowl before taking a job at Notre Dame.

Stanford's roster included a number of future NFL players, including McCaffrey, Tommy Vardell, Bob Whitfield and John Lynch (still a backup quarterback at the time). Cory Booker, now a United States senator from New Jersey, was also on that Cardinal team.

Cal had its share of recognizable names as well. Head coach Bruce Snyder almost led Arizona State to a national title in 1996, while quarterbacks coach Steve Mariucci and defensive-line coach Rod Marinelli both later held head NFL jobs.

"That was one of the most memorable games I've ever been a part of," Shaw said. "I can still feel what I felt during that game."

Once Cal's fans finally cleared the field, Stanford's Dan Byers and Kevin Scott recovered the onside kick. Thanks to a 15-yard penalty for the Bears' prematurely celebrating fans, the Cardinal were suddenly in range to kick the potential game-winning field goal with 9 seconds left.

Because someone tried to get a head start on loading the equipment truck during the on-field delay -- "they thought the game was over," Shaw said -- the practice field-goal net was gone from the Cardinal sideline. So Stanford kicker John Hopkins began booting warm-up kicks into the sea of 75,662 fans at Memorial Stadium.

"I could have kicked them straight down the sidelines, but the ball could have rolled onto the field, and I didn't want to risk any more goofiness," Hopkins said. "So I decided that the fans are going to get some little souvenirs here."

On the opposite sideline, Cal quarterback Mike Pawlawski felt helpless.

"I thought we had control of that game," he said. "All of a sudden, that control just vanished. Poof. It was a young age to learn that control is just an illusion."

Stanford ran one play. Quarterback Jason Palumbis' pass was incomplete, but the Bears were flagged for roughing the passer, a penalty that remains controversial to this day. Suddenly, Stanford was set up for a 39-yard field goal with 5 seconds remaining.

Cal called a timeout to ice Hopkins. Instead of waiting on the field -- a mistake he had made before shanking a field goal at Notre Dame earlier in the season -- Hopkins went back to the sideline and kicked three more balls into the Stanford cheering section, where many fans who had given up on the game were now scrambling back to their seats.

Hopkins drilled the field goal as time expired. Fans got a final souvenir ball, and Stanford won 27-25.

"A sea of red hands shot into the air, and then it was a blur," Hopkins remembers.

A few months later, a student knocked on Hopkins' door with one of the seven footballs he booted into the stands. The visitor also carried a plate of cookies, and he wanted an autograph on the ball. Hopkins happily obliged.

According to McCaffrey, chaos ensued after Hopkins' kick sailed through the uprights.

"When Cal rushed the field, people were knocking each other over, and then when Stanford won, it was an equal amount of chaos," he said. "It looked like people were breaking their ankles hopping the fence, landing on people. It was riotous."

To this day, the 1990 Big Game remains one of the rare contests during which both student sections rushed the field in celebration.

"It went from one extreme to the other, complete depression to complete elation," McCaffrey said. "We experienced the whole gamut of emotions in just a couple of minutes."

In the locker room, one Cardinal shouted, "Hopkins has to pay for the footballs!" which was met with uproarious laughter.

Running back Glyn Milburn, who finished with a Cardinal-record 379 all-purpose yards, summed up how many players were feeling.

"That was our Stanford revenge for 'The Play'!" he yelled.

The 1982 Big Game still commands primary attention when the Cal-Stanford rivalry is discussed, but even Cal players like Pawlawski -- who recalled the mood in the Bears' locker room after the game as "more than quiet with the occasional [expletive]" -- recognize the 1990 game's significance.

“It's one of those pieces of Big Game legend," he said. "People are so emotionally charged around that game itself, so there are a lot of strange occurrences."

The Bears' team mantra for the following season was inspired by the fallout of that freakish finish: "One at a Time, and Stanford."

The Cardinal’s outlook has been similar ever since. There hasn’t been a Big Game quite as kooky in 25 years now, but that familiar emotional intensity -- the energy reserved only for when Stanford and Cal play -- will again be present in Stanford Stadium. But this time, David Shaw will roam the sidelines not as a freshman wide receiver, but as head coach.