UC Davis has a score to settle with its cousin Cal.

The day of reckoning is Sept. 4, when the Aggie and Golden Bear varsity teams will meet on the gridiron for the first time in 71 years.

They last played each other in 1939, when the Davis campus was a branch of Berkeley’s College of Agriculture. On that September day, according to San Francisco Chronicle sportswriter Art Rosenbaum, instead of being “snuffed out by this big ferocious Bear,” the Aggies “rose up and took a Sunday punch right at the big Bear’s snout.”

The official records say UC Berkeley won. Some people thought otherwise.

Read the entire article from the spring issue of UC Davis Magazine.

Or go to our Spotlight: Aggies vs. Cal Bears for the magazine story and these Web extras:

• Tales of Davis vs. Cal in the 1930s: The Aggies scored only one other time against Cal, in 1932, turning the Golden Bear into what the Davis Enterprise described as “a surprised and chagrined old grizzly.” Read about this game and others in the eight-year series.

• How the Bears saw the 1939 game: S. Dan Brodie, gives us Cal’s perspective on the game from his book, 66 Years on the California Gridiron.

• Division I milestones: Ever since UC Davis began seriously considering a move into Division 1 athletics in 2002, our football team has been making news. The following stories trace our trajectory, including A stunning win over Stanford in 2005, a new stadium and Coach Bob Biggs’ success plan.

BE THERE

Your best shot at getting one of 5,000 seats in the Aggies section at the Sept. 4 game in Berkeley is to buy a ticket plan priced at $50 or more for the Aggies home season. If you do that, you will have the opportunity to buy Aggies-Bears tickets for $40. After that, if there are any tickets remaining, UC Davis Athletics will put them on sale in late spring or early summer. The home schedule and season ticket order form are available online: ucdavisaggies.com. Or call (530) 752-8962.