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Provo • Regardless of what happens Saturday in Pac-12 country at California or in the Miami Beach Bowl on Dec. 22 in Florida, the BYU Cougars have to be given at least some credit for turning their season around after four-straight losses in October.

Sure, the opponents — Middle Tennessee State, UNLV and Savannah State — haven't been anything to write home about, but after they were demolished 55-30 at Boise State, the Cougars (7-4) were left for dead by a lot of people in and out of the program.

A big reason for the resuscitation, teammates say, has been the leadership and playmaking ability of fill-in quarterback Christian Stewart, a bubbly, positive-thinking senior who doggedly pursued his childhood dream of starting for BYU when most guys would have gotten sidetracked.

"It is kind of bittersweet, because on one hand you wish Taysom [Hill] hadn't gotten hurt and was healthy," said quarterbacks coach Jason Beck. "On the other hand, it has been so great to see Christian come in and get the opportunity to play in an extended stretch of games, and play well and have success."

Six weeks ago, few BYU fans knew who Christian Stewart was. Now, they are counting on the former Timpanogos High and Snow College quarterback to lead them to a win over a big-name opponent, although Cal is just 5-6 and hasn't been a contender for the Pac-12 title for several years.

And so are his teammates.

"He is our captain on offense. We look up to him and support him, and he's really gotten the guys together to build some momentum," said receiver Mitchell Juergens.

Teammates say Stewart became more vocal in the weeks that followed Hill's injury, and took the mantle of starting quarterback upon himself in practices and team meetings.

"Honestly, he just did it by talking to us, telling us that we are every bit as talented as we were before," Juergens said. "He made us realize that one great player isn't going to take us to a victory. It takes an entire team, and so we know that. Once we got our hands around that, got our minds on that, we came out fighting. And I think we have really jelled as a team."

Indeed, Stewart is living not only the dream, but his dream. His passer efficiency rating has soared to 134.7 (Hill's was 141.6 when he got hurt) and he's played almost flawlessly the last three games, all wins. Stewart has completed 152 of 261 passes for 1,829 yards and 17 touchdowns with just five interceptions, although he would be the first to acknowledge that the competition hasn't been great in November.

That changes on Saturday.

"I am just trying to enjoy the moment. I know it is not going to last forever," Stewart said. "We have about a month left, and I am really just trying to soak it all in and enjoy being the starting quarterback for BYU, because it is something I have always dreamed of.

"I am also trying to prepare myself in every way possible so that I have no regrets and that I played to where I feel confident and comfortable with myself going forward, that I don't have any regrets and am not looking back, wishing I did this or did that," he continued. "I want to go out and leave everything on the field."

Twitter: @drewjay —

BYU at California

P Saturday, 2:30 p.m. MST

TV • Pac-12 Network