NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME : THE PLAYERS VIEWS : He Makes the Extraordinary Ordinary : 49ers: Montana continues to amaze and impress his teammates and opponents.

With the same easy grace that characterized the 386 tosses he made this season, Joe Montana tossed out the results of the 49ers’ previous games against the Rams this season as unreliable indicators of what will happen in their NFC championship game Sunday at Candlestick Park.

“You just throw everything out once you get to this point,” he said Friday. “It’s all emotion, especially this time of year. We know each other and each other’s tendencies, but it’s hard for either team to stop the other.”

Stopping Montana is a task that few teams have accomplished. His success goes beyond the many options afforded him by the presence of skilled receivers such as Jerry Rice and John Taylor and the dogged running of Roger Craig; Montana’s determination is bigger than any mammoth lineman, stronger than the strongest tackle and as unquenchable as he approaches his 34th birthday as it was during his college days.

“I don’t think of anything he’s done this year or in his career as special,” said veteran safety Ronnie Lott, Montana’s teammate since 1981. “Well, the one thing I think is special was when he beat us (USC) with Notre Dame.”

Feats that would be considered extraordinary for other quarterbacks are ordinary for Montana, yet Lott has never lost sight of Montana’s genius.

“Everybody gets frustrated, and I’m sure he has on the football field, but I don’t see him getting upset any more than when he’s on the basketball court,” Lott said. “If he gets slammed on, he’d probably get upset and try to slam on that guy. The same goes on the field: if someone throws his game off, picks him off, he’s not going to lay down and take it.

“You cannot measure his heart. That’s one thing that’s his strongest asset, his desire to go out and do his best for his team. I just try to enjoy it and try to learn from it. If I had something to take from him, it’s what he gives. He gives a lot to his teammates by his attitude, the way he carries himself and the way he represents the team.”

His team is on the verge of qualifying for its second consecutive Super Bowl, but Montana was unruffled Friday after the team’s soggy practice at the Marie DeBartolo Sports Centre. The only clue that this was not just another game was the bemused smile he wore, as if he were privy to a joke that no one else knew.

“We’d like to get off to a good start against the Rams. We like to start well all the time,” Montana said as he pulled his gray sweatshirt over his head and smoothed his blond hair. “We’ll take a win any way we can get it. But yes, we don’t want to get behind against them. . . . We met twice this year, so this just seems like another game we’re playing against them. The first one didn’t count in Japan because it was an exhibition.”

This one counts most, and Montana plays his best when it counts. Ram Coach John Robinson, having coached against Montana many times going back to Robinson’s coaching days at USC and Montana’s playing days at Notre Dame, is familiar with Montana’s exploits. In the Rams’ 13-12 victory Oct. 1 in San Francisco, Montana was 25 for 35 for 227 yards with no touchdowns, one of only two games this season in which he started and did not throw a scoring pass. But given a second shot, Montana was 30 for 42 with a team-record 458 yards passing as the 49ers rallied for a 30-27 win Dec. 11 at Anaheim Stadium.

“I’m sick and tired of him,” Robinson said, softening his words with a smile. “When I was at USC and he was in South Bend, he had 18 (completions) in a row against us one time. He’s as good a football player as I’ve ever seen and he ranks among the best ever to play that position. The thing that puts him up high is his ability to come through in crucial situations. He’s playing certainly as well as any time I can recall.

“We don’t expect to stop him and we don’t expect to rush him. He’s a three-step and five-step thrower. You’ve got to make him double-clutch and not throw to the receivers he wants to throw to when he wants to throw. There is no stopping him. At least, I haven’t seen it. It’s containing him, giving him some yardage but keeping him under control.”

Keeping control of his emotions may be one of Montana’s most valuable assets.

“When he’s in the huddle, he always has a lot of confidence. He’s like ice,” tackle Steve Wallace said. “It could be a tough situation that you might be nervous about, but he just comes into the huddle and shouts the play. It’s like he’s so focused that he’s not worried about anything.

“One time this season I missed an assignment and he got crunched and he didn’t say anything. I felt bad about it but probably him not saying anything made me want to make sure I did better and that it didn’t happen again. You’ve got to feel good about blocking for him.”

As good as his receivers feel when they see him throwing the ball toward him.

“I think Jim (Everett) is a great quarterback, but Joe, I’ve got so much respect for him,” said wide receiver Jerry Rice, who led the 49ers with 82 receptions this season. “Somehow, he’ll find me if I can be found.”

“The most impressive thing,” fullback Tom Rathman said, “is that he’s very accurate. He’ll make a tough throw and it’ll be easy to catch. He’ll make a tough throw with pinpoint accuracy.”

Pinpointing Montana’s inspiration as he approaches a possible fourth Super Bowl victory--a feat that would match the Pittsburgh Steelers--is simple. “It just makes it more motivating,” Montana said. “We’ve been there and we know what it’s like. For us to not get there would be more demoralizing for us than for them. You never know what you have until you’ve got it. They haven’t had it. I think there’s more pressure each time you get there, but we have a pretty young club with guys who just tasted it and kind of like that feeling, so they enjoy the pressure. That’s another reason we’ve played so well this year.”

That he is able to play at all after back surgery three years ago is a continuing marvel to Lott.

“I try to appreciate him every day because he’s a true professional. Regardless of his feats as a quarterback, his demeanor as a person is more impressive,” Lott said. “A lot of you see Joe now, but you didn’t see Joe the day after his surgery, when he couldn’t walk. I didn’t think he’d be here. It was an emotional time for all of us, all of his friends. You hate to see any person suffer.

“I don’t think he rises to the occasion in big games just because it’s a big game. He just wants to go out there regardless of the situation, the weather, and rise above it all. He’s not just like that in football--he’s like that in everything. Most other great players have had that attitude. He has to be competitive and be in command in every situation on the field.”

But even Lott doubted that Montana was in command in the late stages of Super Bowl XXIII last January. “I thought we were going to lose,” he said. But Montana persevered, as Lott believes he will again despite advancing age.

“I’ve talked to him in general about how long he’s going to play,” Lott said, “and we’re probably going to be talking about it for a while to come. A good four years I would hope. A good four, five years. If you’ve got your wheels and got your arm, you’ve got everything.”

Everything, perhaps, except an attitude. “It would be hard for me to be that humble if I was that good,” tackle Bubba Paris said. “I’d have a limo pick me up every day, I’d have the suit, the rocks (diamonds), my entourage. The Lord knows who to let that happen to.”

Limos aren’t Montana’s style. Winning is.

“You can never be satisfied. Everybody has to be that way and take that approach,” he said. “That’s the way you win.”