Former Wisconsin Badgers running back Isaac Guerendo is in line to serve as the San Francisco 49ers starting running back for at least four weeks.

The news arrives on the heels of injury updates to all-world running back Christian McCaffrey and backup Jordan Mason.

McCaffrey, who suffered a PCL injury during ‘Sunday Night Football’ against the Buffalo Bills, will be out for at least six weeks. Mason, meanwhile, suffered an ankle injury and will also head to the injury reserve for at least four weeks.

The unfortunate sequence of events for the 49ers running back room opens an opportunity for Guerendo to serve as the starter.

Against the Bills, Guerendo showcased what he’s capable of with a 19-yard rushing touchdown in the snowy conditions. He finished with five touches for 16 yards and the score. He’s up to 42 carries, 246 yards and two touchdowns in his rookie NFL season in a relatively limited role.

Christian McCaffrey AND Jordan Mason are headed to injured reserve, per Kyle Shanahan.

Isaac Guerendo is now in line to start for San Francisco.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 2, 2024

In five years in Madison, Guerendo registered 99 carries, 582 yards and six touchdowns in 27 games. Several injuries and the presence of future NFL draftee Braelon Allen prevented the Clayton, Indiana native from taking off as a Badger.

He did, however, display his potential in his 2023 season with the Louisville Cardinals. The 6-foot-1 playmaker tallied 810 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns before making the jump to the NFL.

Barring an outside signing, Guerendo will lace up as San Francisco’s starter on Dec. 8 vs. the Chicago Bears. At 5-7 and last in the NFC West, Kyle Shanahan’s group is in desperate need of a win.

This is a list of the Bay Area’s most notable restaurant and bar openings, with new updates published once a week. Did we miss something great? Please, drop us a line.

December 3

NOPA — Geoffrey Lee, the chef behind Handroll Project and Michelin Guide-listed Ju-ni, debuts his next restaurant Hamburger Project on Wednesday, December 4, the San Francisco Standard reports. Located at 808 Divisadero, expect three styles of smash burger, a classic version with American cheese and housemade HP sauce, an Oklahoma-style onion burger with Peppadew peppers, and a Wisconsin butter burger. There are fries, of course, but the menu also gets punched up with the addition of yuzu-Tabasco sauce and a Tsar Nicoulai caviar upgrade.

OAKLAND — After a couple of months serving “Pakistani party food,” Oakland’s Gold Palm will debut the second part of the restaurant — “secret bar” Moonglow — on Wednesday, December 4. Owners Shirin Raza and Daniel Gahr also own nearby hi-fi listening bar, Bar Shiru, so expect a worthy sound system pumping music through the space alongside solid cocktails such as a 50/50 gin martini. Head to Gold Palm and find the door with a golden doorbell for entry; be warned, however, guests are prohibited from taking photos and videos inside.

OAKLAND — New “mezcal and espresso bar” Mixé is now embedded in the former Calavera space in Oakland and opens on Friday, December 6, East Bay Nosh reports. Pronounced “mee-hay,” the name references a group of indigenous people of Oaxaca. Nosh reports that during the restaurant’s first week, they’ll be open for dinner only before expanding to lunch service as of Friday, December 13.

OAKLAND — Bird-themed bar Little Bird opened in November at 435 13th Street, previously the home of Radio Bar, the Mercury News reports. Expect bold colors for the bar redesign and, surprisingly, a strong pickle selection thanks to Golden State Pickle Works. The new bar comes from Jennifer Seidman, who also owns Acme Bar & Company in Berkeley.

EMERYVILLE — Ramen Hiroshi opened its latest location at the Emeryville Public Market as of Friday, November 15, the E’ville Eye reports. It’s the restaurant’s fifth location in the Bay Area, serving Hakata-style ramen and other items.

The city charter requires the mayor to receive a specific salary rate, and Lurie will automatically donate all but $1 of those wages back to the city, according to his spokesperson, Max Szabo.

Lurie’s net worth is estimated to be up to nearly $33 million, according to the San Francisco Standard. His background represents a sharp contrast from Breed, a fellow San Francisco native who grew up in the city’s public housing. Her salary for the 2024–25 fiscal year is $383,760, according to a July report from the city’s Civil Service Commission.

Lurie will be the first San Francisco mayor in nearly a century to have never served in elected office before taking over City Hall. He previously started and ran an anti-poverty nonprofit called the Tipping Point.

A moderate Democrat, Lurie ran a campaign focused on bringing change to what he often referred to as a corrupt and dysfunctional political environment in San Francisco, and he embraced being the only leading candidate with no prior experience working in City Hall.

“Hope is alive and well in San Francisco,” Lurie told supporters at a press conference in November. “Our mandate is to show how government must deliver on its promises. Clean and safe streets for all. Tackling our drug and behavioral health crisis, shaking up the corrupt and ineffective bureaucracy, building enough housing so our neighbors can afford to live here.”

Lurie follows a small handful of wealthy elected officials who have given back all but $1 of their salary in the form of nontaxable donations. That list includes former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, whom Lurie has said he looks up to as a model for city leadership, as well as former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.