PRO FOOTBALL : SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 23, RAMS 17 : Rubley In the Running for Job as Understudy

Exhibition football may be important for veterans who go through the motions to remind their muscles how it will be when the season begins. But the games don’t really get interesting until the guys with nothing to lose get on the field, when those young guns try to make the most of their brief opportunity to show ‘em what they got.

Take the Rams’ T.J. Rubley. And after Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium, there are a lot of Ram fans who would love to embrace him as the No. 1 quarterback.

Jim Everett, of course, is the starter and the fact that he completed just nine of 19 passes for 71 yards in a lackluster performance against the San Diego Chargers will do nothing to change that. But Rubley, whom Coach Chuck Knox called the surprise of training camp a year ago, did his best to entrench himself as a part of the Rams’ future.

Rubley is battling veteran Mike Pagel for the No. 2 quarterback spot and he clearly picked up points in the pizazz department. He might be a ninth-round pick from Tulsa, but he knows how to wow a crowd.

He spent the second half dancing away from onrushing lineman, faking out linebackers and ducking around cornerbacks. He scrambled four times for 32 yards and only the fans were left standing.

“Reminds me of somebody I knew about 12 years ago,” Pagel said, referring to his younger years. “My motto back then was always, ‘When in doubt, run.’ He’s really fun to watch.”

Rubley finished the evening completing 10 of 25 passes (including four desperation incompletions in the final seconds) for 120 yards. But it was the moves--not the numbers--that were most impressive.

“He’s definitely got escapability,” Knox said with a rare smile. “He got out of some tough situations tonight.”

Consider this third-quarter scoring drive:

--Rubley sprints out of the pocket and fires a rocket between three Charger defenders to tight end Pat Carter for 14 yards.

--Two plays later, he takes a quick drop and whips another 14-yard completion to Carter, who’s slanting across the middle.

--On third and 12 with the Rams in a shotgun formation, Rubley spins out of the collapsing pocket and the grasp of San Diego’s Kevin Little, sprints for the right sideline and then cuts back in front of safety Darren Carrington before sliding down at the San Diego 11 for a first down.

(“That was the NFL experience for me,” Rubley said. “I knew exactly where I was, and I was debating whether to dive head first or slide. I slid, but it was in the dirt and I was worried about the spot. But we got the good spot and kept the drive alive.”)

--Three plays later, Rubley hooks up with Carter again, this time for a touchdown.

“I made some things happen tonight and I sure had a lot of fun,” he said, “but there were a lot of things that could have been corrected, things I need to try and iron out.”

Rubley says he doesn’t plan his great escapes and can’t even remember which way he spins or how he evades tackles.

“It’s just a feel thing and you either run away from where you feel the danger or you go toward it and put on some moves,” he said. “I love getting the chance to play and we played hard tonight and didn’t give up.

“You know, it’s rare when I have the opportunity to play. But it’s even more rare when I have the opportunity to win and that’s the only disappointment that goes with this night.”