BERKELEY – From Ron Rivera to Jerrott Willard to Zack Follett to Jordan Kunaszyk – and so many others in between – the Cal football program has a rich legacy of star linebackers.

That legacy is being strengthened every day in Berkeley in 2019.

Simply put, Cal senior Evan Weaver is having a season for the ages. He enters Saturday's Homecoming game against Oregon State leading the nation with 84 tackles. His 22 tackles during the Bears' 28-20 victory over Ole Miss on Sept. 21 tied Kunaszyk for the school record. He is the only player in the country with three games in which he recorded 15 or more tackles. And he anchors one of the top defenses in the nation – one that has held 13 straight opponents to 25 points or less, a streak that dates back to last season and is the best in the country.

Before he leaves Cal, providing he stays healthy, Weaver should finish his career ranked fourth on the school's all-time career tackles list. Last year, he tied Cal's all-time tackles leader David Ortega for second on the program's single-season tackles list with 159.

Weaver is one of the nation's leading candidates for the Butkus Award, an award no Cal player has ever won and that is given to the best linebacker in the country. And he was a first-team All-American on seemingly everyone's midseason All-America list, and could join Rivera as the only other Cal linebacker to be named a consensus All-American.

"His instincts as a defensive player are off the charts," said Ortega, Cal's career leader in tackles with 525 and a three-time All-Pac-10 honoree in the late 1980s. "One of the things he possesses that I haven't seen in a long while from any other player is that he sincerely believes his job is to make every play. That's how the guys that are the best at that position all believe."

Ortega has spent almost his entire adult life on campus since graduating from Cal in 1990 and has remained close to the football program. His playing career at Cal came just after Rivera and fellow star Hardy Nickerson, and he has stuck around to see guys like Willard, Follett, Kunaszyk, Matt Beck and Worrell Williams.

"Evan is right up there with all of them," Ortega said. "He makes tons of plays. I appreciate his effort. Sometimes, he tries to put the team on his back, and I love that. You got to do what you got to do, and we need to celebrate that as Cal fans. We should celebrate those type of players."

Rivera was selected in the second round of the 1984 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears and went on to forge a successful nine-year playing career, including a Super Bowl title in 1985. He's now in his ninth year as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, where he also coaches Kunaszyk, who is in his rookie season.

Kunaszyk and Weaver made up one of the nation's top linebacker tandems last season, but now that Kunaszyk has started his professional career in Carolina, it is Weaver who is the undisputed leader of the Golden Bears' defense.

"What makes him special is his passion for the game of football," Kunaszyk said. "He wants to be great. He loves to go out there and play the game, and he plays it at a high level."

Weaver's prolific tackling numbers are a product of a lot of reasons, one of which is his unique combination of size and speed. At 6-foot-3, 235 pounds, Weaver runs as well as many other linebackers smaller than him. That, combined with his seemingly endless motor on the football field, is what allows him to make a memorable mark at Cal – and almost assuredly beginning in the NFL next season.

"Without question, he has a bright future playing the game," Kunaszyk said. "I don't think people realize how fast he really is. That helps him play sideline to sideline. Usually, linebackers his size play more in the box. But he can play sideline to sideline, and that's why his numbers are so productive when it comes to tackles."