Jacob De Jesus stood in front of cameras at L&N Stadium in Louisville moments after making the biggest play of his college career. It was a 3-yard overtime touchdown that stunned No. 14 Louisville 29-26 and sent California to its first ranked win since 2020. The 5-foot-7 senior receiver had just tied Cal’s single-game record with 16 receptions for 158 yards, both career highs. 

But when reporters asked him about his game-winning catch on fourth down, De Jesus didn’t talk about how he beat his defender. Instead, he broke down talking about his dad, his mom, and the fact that he had almost walked away from football entirely. At 24 years old, with a young daughter to care for and still living rent-free under his parents’ roof, De Jesus had questioned whether chasing his football dream was the right move. Saturday night proved it.​

“First of all, I just want to say all glory to god for giving us this opportunity, man, for giving me this opportunity to be here and to make the plays that I did today for this team,” De Jesus said in his post-game interview, his voice cracking with emotion.

“But definitely, without my dad’s support, none of this would’ve been possible. To hear him, you know, uplift my dreams still, even though I’m having a baby and still living at their house rent-free, like, he told me to chase it. He told me to chase it, because you’ve got your whole life to work. Him and my mom were really big supports, so it just means a lot for me to be here in this moment and in this position now.”

It’s rare to see a college football player so openly vulnerable on camera, especially after a moment like that. He was speaking from a place of gratitude for parents who could have easily told him to hang up the cleats, get a job, and take care of his responsibilities.​

The story behind those words is what makes them so powerful. De Jesus and his fiancée, Kirsten Lopez, welcomed their daughter, Amelia, in August 2020, right around the time Jacob was finishing high school in Manteca, California. He thought his football dreams were over the moment he found out Lopez was pregnant. “If you knew me in high school, you would never think that would happen,” De Jesus told reporters during his time at UNLV. “Everybody knew I loved football.” 

But there he was, a young father with zero scholarship offers because of his 5-foot-7, 150-pound frame. Instead of giving up, De Jesus went to Modesto Junior College, earned All-America honors, and eventually got one, just one, FBS scholarship offer from UNLV. He spent two years with the Rebels, leading the Mountain West in both punt returns and kickoff returns in 2023. After the 2024 season, De Jesus transferred to Cal in January 2025, coming back home to the Bay Area with his family. “I just give god thanks for putting my parents in my life,” he said on Saturday night.​

And when the confetti settled and the cameras turned off, De Jesus probably went home and hugged his parents a little tighter, knowing they believed in him when giving up would have been easier.​

Cal’s stunning upset in Louisville

California pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the college football season on Saturday night, traveling to Louisville and walking away with a 29-26 overtime victory over the No. 14-ranked Cardinals. The Bears entered L&N Stadium as 18.5-point underdogs, and nobody outside the Cal locker room expected them to hang around in a primetime road game against a team that had won three straight and was sitting at No. 15 in the College Football Playoff rankings. 

But freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele delivered the performance of his young career, completing 30 of 47 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns. The game was a back-and-forth slugfest, tied four different times in regulation before heading to overtime. After Louisville kicked a 49-yard field goal on the first possession of OT, Cal faced a defining moment: fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line. Head coach Justin Wilcox went for the win.​

Sagapolutele rolled left and found Jacob De Jesus just across the goal line, sending the Cal sideline into pandemonium and handing Louisville a crushing defeat that likely ended their College Football Playoff hopes. The Bears outgained the Cardinals 427-351, including a dominant 350-203 advantage through the air, marking Cal’s first victory over a ranked opponent since beating Oregon on December 5, 2020.