Steussie’s Career at Cal a Mix of Peaks, Valleys

Playing football at California this season has brought a lot of ups and downs and not much in between for senior tackle Todd Steussie.

The Bears won their first five games and appeared to be headed for something big. Now, they have lost their last four and cling to but a thread of hope for a bowl game.

But this Saturday the former Agoura High player suspects his emotions will go to both extremes as he plays at Memorial Stadium for the final time.

“Every year the seniors and their parents are introduced before the game,” Steussie said. “I’m so used to watching the other guys, I can’t believe it’s my turn. Everything’s sneaking up on me.”

For Steussie, it seems like only yesterday when he sprinted onto Berkeley’s home field with the starting unit against Miami on Sept. 15, 1990.

It was only his second game as a redshirt freshman.

“It was a baptism of fire more than anything else,” Steussie said. “I had to block (Outland Trophy winner and future NFL No. 1 draft pick) Russell Maryland. I was only 19 and I was scared to death.

“Just two days before camp, they moved me from defensive line to offensive line. I really didn’t have too much technique. I was more in a fistfight than anything else. I was reluctant to the change at first. But once I moved over and started playing immediately, I never had a chance to regret it.”

But as Steussie--and 22 other Cal seniors--prepares for his last home game, he takes time to reflect.

“There’s a lot of memories here,” he said. “It’s kind of sad, because I know one part of my football career is ending and another is starting.”

Russell Maryland is waiting.

Steussie, 6-feet-6, 305 pounds and a preseason All-American pick by Playboy magazine, is expected to be a high draft pick by the NFL next spring. He ranks with Keith Kartz (Denver), Doug Riesenberg (New York Giants), Harvey Salem (Denver) and Ed White (Minnesota, San Diego retired) as one of the best offensive linemen to come out of Cal.

He will break Salem’s record of 43 consecutive starts by a lineman with his 44th on Saturday.

Said Steussie: “Back in my freshman year, I never imagined this.”

The Bears (5-4, 2-4 in Pacific 10 Conference play) couldn’t have imagined losing four in a row after opening 5-0. Their last three games have been blowouts. A 41-0 loss at Arizona State last week broke a school-record streak of 78 consecutive games without being shut out. One month ago, Cal’s offense was averaging 10.8 points a quarter; since then it’s 1.7. The defense was allowing five points per quarter, since then 10.

“I knew from the beginning this was a team that could run with momentum, and we could lose momentum with our first loss,” Steussie said. “But I didn’t think we’d stumble like we have. It’s been like two seasons. Every week we have good practices. Each week I think we’re going to get out of a rut.

“The coaches just want us to regain that confidence, the cockiness we had at the start of the season.”

The only bowl bid still possible for the Bears is the inaugural Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Tex., which takes the fourth-place team from the Pac-10. To earn that bid, Cal must beat No. 13 Arizona (8-1, 5-1) and Stanford (3-6, 1-5) and would need Oregon and Arizona State each to lose one of its two remaining games.

Steussie can’t single out one most memorable moment in his four years at Cal. His 23rd and final game at Memorial Stadium could be it, though. So would a third trip to a bowl game.

“There’s been good memories and bad,” he said. “The two bowl games (victories in the 1990 Copper Bowl and the 1991 Citrus Bowl), the big games against Stanford, Russell White running the heck out of the ball . . .

“The best memories will be of the guys I played with here. They’re going to be my friends for life. From what I hear about the pros, the bond is not the same.”

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Career move: Washington redshirt freshman Tobaise Brookins (Sylmar) has been moved from tailback to cornerback. Coach Jim Lambright told him the position change is permanent. At No. 3 on the depth chart, Brookins will see action on defense in the final two games and will play on special teams.

“At first I was disappointed to let it go,” Brookins said. “I love tailback. But they looked down the line and they felt I’d go further and be more successful at cornerback.”