A three-game winning streak gave Bakersfield College momentum and a turnaround to its football season, but the 31-17 loss to Ventura Saturday night likely ended any chance of a bowl berth. It certainly killed any hope of a Southern California playoff spot.

Even coach Jeff Chudy acknowledged the playoff scenario. BC won't get a chance to match up with the state's best. The past two seasons, BC reached the Southern California title game, losing two close ones to narrowly miss out on a spot in the state title game.

With a 4-5 record and with 8-0 College of the Canyons set for the regular-season finale on Nov. 15, BC must win that game and hope Canyons also loses to Pasadena next Saturday (BC has a bye next week). That would mean a three-way tie for first place in the Northern National Conference. If Canyons beats Pasadena, Canyons clinches the outright conference championship and eliminates BC from sharing the title.

Southern California Football Association Commissioner Jim Sartoris told The Californian that bowl berths outside the four-team playoffs go to teams above .500 unless a team finishes at .500 and is a conference champion or co-champion.

Against Ventura, BC was plagued by the problems that were common during the Gades' 1-4 start: Failure to prevent third-down conversions by the opponent and inconsistent offense. Ventura quarterback Lee Mondol expertly found receivers open in the BC zone defense. The Gades had only two quarterback sacks, and simply failed to put enough pressure on Mondol to affect the plays. Mondol, to his credit, was not fazed the few times BC put on a big rush.

The Gades have two weeks to prepare for Canyons and get healthy. Should BC upset  Canyons, it would salvage a .500 season and end the year on a positive note, since this Canyons team is as good as any squad BC has faced in recent years.