They Needn’t Go Far for Inspiration : Pro football: Raiders can look to Shell, Steelers to Greene for best of their teams’ traditions at Coliseum today.

After all these years, it’s still Art Shell and Mean Joe Greene going head to head for the Raiders and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

One of football’s greatest rivalries and one-on-one matchups resumes today at the Coliseum after a five-year layoff during which both teams have struggled to recapture past glories. For answers, the Raiders and Steelers have turned back the clock and hired two slices of the 1970s, a decade punctuated by crushing playoff battles and one Immaculate and/or Forgettable Reception, depending on which side of Franco Harris you were standing.

The Raiders haven’t made the playoffs since 1985. That’s five years in normal time, darn near an epoch in Al Davis years.

So last Oct. 3, Davis handed his team over to Shell, a Raider if ever there was one: 15 seasons at tackle, eight Pro Bowls, a bust on display in Canton, Ohio. Shell has responded with seven home victories without a loss and a 2-0 start in 1990.

The Steelers, barely a break-even team in the 1980s at 77-75 and 10 seasons removed from their fourth Super Bowl victory, have the AFC’s second-ranked defense and 11 sacks in two games. Time to raise another Steel Curtain? Well, they’ve turned up the heat with help from a defensive line coach named Greene.

Greene and Shell, arguably the best two players at their positions, faced each other on a regular basis. Now, they’re trying to infuse their players with the work ethic of yesteryear, when merely picking up a paycheck wasn’t enough.

“We were at the Pro Bowl once,” Shell recalled last week. “We were practicing in L.A., and (Greene) said to me: ‘Too bad they don’t have a league for people like you and I, so when we get about 48 or 50 years old, we can still play this game.’ ”

This is about as close as it gets, squaring off against each other from opposite sidelines.

Greene, if he does nothing else in his life, has made a starting defensive end out of Donald Evans, the Rams’ top pick of 1987, who was categorically rejected in Anaheim.

“You can see Joe’s tenacity coming out in those guys,” Shell said. “Joe and I talked about this in the off-season, just the idea of getting our teams back playing the way we were accustomed to seeing them play.”

Today’s pregame speech by Shell to his players undoubtedly will be laced with anecdotes about his rumbles with Greene.

“If you love the game of football, you had to love playing in a game like that,” Shell said of the rivalry. “Those were exciting games, fun games. You had a good time on the field. . . . It was the will of individuals going against each other. . . . It was just an exciting time for me as a player to play against those guys. I always had fun playing against the Steelers, jockeying back and forth with a guy like Joe Greene. After a play, I’d say, ‘What are you doing here back in my backfield?’ Those kinds of things. After you talk, you try to line up and knock each other’s head off. But after the game we were still friends.”

The Raiders have opened the season with two victories over divisional opponents despite scoring only two touchdowns on offense. The Steelers (1-1) have not scored an offensive touchdown, winning last Sunday’s game against Houston, 20-9, with two field goals, a 52-yard punt return and a 26-yard interception return.

The Steeler offense, coordinated these days by former Jet coach Joe Walton, is averaging 2.2 yards per rush and 3.5 yards per pass. They’re five for 28 on third-down conversions.

Remember, the Steelers fell two points short of advancing to the AFC title game last year without Walton, who has changed the entire offensive scheme and terminology. So far, it’s all been Greek to quarterback Bubby Brister, who has complained publicly about his summer homework assignment.

“We lose a little bit in the translation,” Steeler Coach Chuck Noll acknowledged. “Some of us are thinking in the old language, and that’s causing problems.”

So why change?

“You’ll probably have to ask Chuck Noll that question,” Brister said. “If I say something wrong, he’s probably going to kick my butt.”

Noll argues that the offense needed some sprucing up after finishing 28th overall and last in passing in 1989.

Brister said the offense was at first complicated, but added that the changes will be better for the team in the long run. He noted that the Steelers were outscored, 92-10, in their first two games last season and rallied to reach the playoffs.

“I think they threw a lot at us, so we’ll study and stay in,” Brister said, “and maybe not ease down to the bar to get a beer. Everything’s just new.”

Raider Notes

The teams haven’t played each other since Dec. 16, 1984, at the Coliseum. The Steelers won, 13-7, and clinched their ninth AFC Central Division title. . . . The Raiders lead the regular-season series, 6-3. The teams have split six playoff games. . . . The Raiders are one of six undefeated teams remaining in the NFL this season. . . . After two games, Raider quarterback Jay Schroeder’s quarterback rating of 87.1 is higher than the ratings of Dan Marino, John Elway, Warren Moon, Boomer Esiason and Joe Montana. . . . With Mike Dyal injured, don’t be surprised to see Marcus Allen line up at tight end in some situations, as he did last Sunday during the Raiders’ 17-13 victory over the Seahawks in Seattle.