Cal treks to Dallas this week to face No. 24 SMU, the first of three straight road games over four weekends. The Bears (3-4, 2-2 ACC) are coming off a crushing 41-7 home loss to Wake Forest and left Memorial Stadium without clarity at quarterback.

SMU (5-1, 3-1) will be no easier. The Mustangs scored a 23-13 victory over Virginia on Saturday, their third straight win following a 41-31 defeat Louisville.

The Bears are 18.5-point underdogs, according to odds posted by DraftKings.

Here are 10 things to know about the Mustangs: 

— SMU is 17-3 in ACC games since joining the conference in 2024. What's more pertinent to Cal is this: The Mustangs have won all of their 10 home games against ACC opponents.

— Coach Rhett Lashlee, in his fifth season, is 36-11 since the start of 2023.  In SMU’s debut season in the conference in 2024, Lashlee led the Mustangs to an unbeaten ACC regular-season title and a berth in the College Football Playoff.

— The Mustangs have been ranked in the AP Top-25 every week this season, their longest streak in 41 years.

— Quarterback Kevin Jennings owns SMU career records for passing yards 9,543), touchdowns responsible for (83: 71 pass/12 rush), pass completions (965) and total offense (10,197). He is the ACC’s active leader in passing yards. In two games vs. Cal he has completed 66.7 percent of his passes for 475 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.

— The Mustangs have passed for at least 400 yards in three games this season. Cal has just one such game since the start of the 2023 season, a 492-yard output vs. FCS-level Wagner this fall.

— Running back Kendrick Raphael, the transfer from Cal, rushed for 124 yards against Virginia and is third in the ACC, averaging 90.3 yards per game. A year after totaling 943 rushing yards for the Bears, Kendrick had a career-high 197 yards with three touchdowns three weeks ago vs. Louisville.

— SMU’s 142 sacks since the start of the 2023 season are the most in all of FBS.

— Ten different SMU players have sacks this season, led by eighth-year defensive end Marques White with 4.5 sacks. Including his time at Dartmouth, McNeese State and UMass, the 25-year-old has 22 career sacks.

— SMU’s defense leads the ACC in lowest third-down conversion rate at 26.5 percent. Cal is just 13th in the conference in the same category, allowing opponents to convert 42.4 percent.

— The Mustangs made a change at placekicker for the Virginia game after converting just three of six attempts through their first five games. Brendan Baird, a four-year member of the SMU soccer team, responded by going 3-for-3 on field goals — the first of his career — including a 45-yarder.

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