When Malik McMorris wears his pink mouthpiece in the fall, it will go against all of the team's uniform codes. But the coaching staff understands.
 
Most fans know McMorris as the fullback who lines up in the backfield and bowls people over, but he has something that has been driving him to get to this point.
 
Malik is the oldest of five children, the son of Patrick McMorris and Lucy Guerrero. He grew up playing football, basketball and throwing in track & field. At under 6-feet, he wasn't long for basketball despite being a good rebounder and passer. However, the others stuck.
 
When he was younger, his family used to pile in the car and head across the state for track meets. They'd wait all day in the sun as Malik waited his turn to throw.
 
"My mom made sure to make it a family atmosphere." McMorris continued, "She'd say 'your brothers and sisters are here supporting you, just have fun and know that we are all rooting you.' Having that relationship with my mom and my siblings too, it's special."
 
His mom, in addition to being his biggest cheerleader, was also his coach in both basketball and track. She started coaching him when he was 11 and worked with him until he started high school. 
 
Guerrero was a standout basketball and track athlete at Century High, even being inducted into the Santa Ana Unified School District Hall of Fame. In addition to coaching, she was also a teacher and administrator working at a couple of schools in the Santa Ana area.  
 
"They always put me in schools that were close to her, so I could walk there after school and hang out with her in her classroom after school," McMorris said. "I learned a lot from her - whether it's being a good student, obviously that's No. 1, or a competitor. She was a competitor herself. Even today, people tell me how much of a competitor she was in high school."
 
When Malik was a sophomore at Mater Dei High School, his mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She fought, but less than a year later she was in hospice care.
 
On January 29, 2014, she passed away.
 
It's not something you can get over, and Malik hasn't tried to. Instead, he's focused on living his life in a way that honors his mom.
 
One of those ways is through education. With Guerrero's background, academics was always important in the McMorris household. So when Malik had an opportunity to come to Cal, he took advantage of it.
 
Coming out of high school, McMorris had scholarship offers in both football and track. However, Cal was the only school that would allow him to do both while offering him the opportunity to study at the No. 1 public university in the country. So he walked on to both the football and track teams.
 
"Cal embodies a lot of the things she taught me in the classroom," McMorris said. "Coming to Cal is a blessing on the field and in the track ring as well."
 
After two football seasons (1.5 years on campus), McMorris was awarded a scholarship on the football team. He had to commit fully to football, but he never thought about quitting track.
 
"You have this responsibility. I had to stay true to my goals and what I wanted to do," McMorris said. "I do it to represent my mom. That was a bond that we shared since I was in the third grade. She was the one that brought me into it. I want to compete and continue to represent her as long as I can. There's a special feeling with track. It hits home."
 
He's not just any member of the track team, either. McMorris has been a consistent force, taking third place in the discus at the Pac-12 Championship two weeks ago and adding points in the shot put by finishing sixth.
 
"He was always going to do both sports. He's a really competitive guy," assistant track & field coach for throws Mohammad Saatara said. "Malik always brings a little bit of extra energy. He's always positive, he's a very optimistic person. He doesn't get down on himself. He just finds a way to work his way through."
 
That determination to excel in everything that he has done has driven him. He didn't miss a single football practice this spring, while also competing in eight track meets over the past three months. He will be one of two Bears competing in multiple events at this weekend's NCAA West Prelims. He has done all this while maintaining a GPA above 3.0.
 
There have been some that have tried to play multiple sports at the collegiate level but have been unable to find time for both. For Malik, it's more than just sports. Playing has allowed him to connect with his mom and honor her memory.
 
"We spent a lot of time in the sports world with track, basketball and football," he said. "Her being my coach in two of the three sports, I think I embody a lot of the things that she did as a person just from me being around her."
 
In the throwing ring, all of the pointers she gave him since he first started remind him. On the football field, he straps in that pink mouthpiece and he remembers why he does it.
 
For Mom.