In Spring, He Dreams of Autumn : College football: An ankle injury forced SDSU’s Matuszewicz to miss the 1990 season. Aztecs expect the lineman’s return to bolster their defense.

It was The Game, and talk to anybody associated with the San Diego State football program these days, and the subject inevitably comes up.

Until SDSU knocks off a top-10 team, or until the Aztecs get to a bowl game, this is what you’re going to hear about:

Dec. 1, 1990: Miami 30, SDSU 28.

Yes, it was a loss, but it is the game those associated with SDSU hope-- pray --will change the program’s fortunes. Big, bad Miami was ranked third nationally going into the game, and SDSU came close enough to get a whiff of the big time.

The lobby of the football offices at SDSU is already covered with pictures of the afternoon. Everyone from Athletic Director Fred Miller, to Coach Al Luginbill to every single player has his own mental snapshots of the game as well.

And that includes Steve Matuszewicz. Uh, that’s MAT-U-SHEV-ITZ.

One catch: This is a guy who viewed that game a little differently. You see, Matuszewicz figures he should have been on the field. Instead, he roamed the sidelines on a tender left ankle that was severely sprained in August and wound up keeping him out for the entire season.

“The worst part was the Miami game,” he said. “Being so close and not being able to do anything.”

Now, he is back on the field as Luginbill puts the Aztecs through spring practice.

Matuszewicz arrived at SDSU in 1988, earned a starting position at linebacker by the last game of his freshman season, then started 10 of 12 games at defensive end in 1989. He was set for a big junior year when he injured the ankle.

He spent the fall raising questions that never will be answered. What kind of a year could he have had? How much could he have helped a Aztec defense that was overly generous to opponents all season?

There was no question he would have started again at defensive end.

“Yes,” Luginbill said. “Yes. Definitely.”

The thing was, Matuszewicz’s ankle sprain was bad enough to keep him out until at least midseason. And by that time, he and Luginbill figured, he might as well redshirt rather than waste half a season. Now, he will play his junior year in 1991.

“To be honest with you, I’m glad to have him for two years now,” Luginbill said. “It turned out to be a blessing in disguise.”

The injury occurred in one of those cover-your-eyes plays. The Aztecs were running a blocking pattern in which Matuszewicz had to step in toward the offensive lineman and then spin to the outside. While he was spinning, 240-pound tight end Ray Rowe fell on his leg.

So much for 1990.

His ankle has caused him no pain this spring except when he has to make sharp cuts. Then, he feels a little tenderness, but nothing more.

“I thought it would be slower,” he said of his comeback. “I thought it would take me a while to get clicking again.

“But I’ve had a couple of good days.”

Part of that can be attributed to a mental adjustment he made while watching last season slip by. Realizing how much he missed football, he spent more time than ever in the weight room. He gained 20 pounds over the winter and now weighs 240, which still is low for a defensive end. But he has been working with the first team.

“The difference between him now and before is that he worked on his upper body,” Luginbill said. “He was always fighting off aches and pains in his neck and shoulders. Now, he is able to keep himself physically intact.”

And he is on a field again. There is no game Saturday night, but there are plenty of fall Saturdays left to dream of. The thought of that, and of what he missed last season, keeps him thinking.

“I want to be more intense in the way I approach practice and the season as a whole,” Matuszewicz said. “I don’t want to let myself think, ‘I’d rather be doing this,’ or ‘I heard the surf is nice today.’

“I don’t want to look back some day and be thinking that I goofed around.”