THE JURY ON JOE : ...

It’s drive time, three days before game time, 6:26 p.m. on Thursday. Interstate 280 northbound toward Cupertino is jammed with motorists, the radio airways with callers, none of whom give a Dick Button flying camel about figure skating.

You wonder if the Silicon Valley wonks would know Tonya Harding from Warren G.

Terry on a car phone clearly wishes to apply a cellular headlock on San Francisco Chronicle columnist Lowell Cohn, a guest on Ralph Barbieri’s sports talk radio show on KNBR. Cohn’s article that day had re-examined--for, oh, maybe the billionth time--the difficulties of being 49er quarterback Steve Young in Joe Montana’s town.

Cohn wrote that Young appeared nervous at a Wednesday press briefing before Sunday’s NFC championship game against the Dallas Cowboys, noting the quarterback had “dry mouth, the forced smile of someone who was not at ease with himself.”

Terry is sick of this “pseudo-psychological probing,” and warns Cohn he is only putting more pressure on the quarterback who had dared replace Montana.

“If he feels pressure from the article, he’s got a real problem,” Cohn shoots back.

John from Hayward phones in at 6:30 to say only a fool would compare Montana and Young: “When Joe comes on the field, you don’t want to change the channel.”

It’s been like this for months in the Bay Area, which is in the throes of a major anxiety attack over the prospects of a San Francisco-Kansas City Super Bowl that would pit its beloved 49ers against its beloved expatriate quarterback, Montana, who led the team to four Super Bowls before departing with such sweet sorrow.

Standing in the way of this matchup--which would no doubt unleash an emotional civil war in Bay Area--is Sunday. San Francisco must dispose of the defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys, and Kansas City must defeat Buffalo in the AFC title game.

“It’s almost like a death wish,” said Bud Geracie, sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. “But everybody wants it.”

Everybody. Fans, players, milkmen, nuns. No matter the consequences.

No matter that it might further split 49er loyalties into Young camps and Montana camps and reopen old wounds. No matter that it might force fans to choose between a team and a god.

No matter that a Montana victory over Young might cause irreparable damage to Young’s

psyche and send the 49ers spiraling downward.

The moral dilemma: Could a die-hard 49er fan root against them in a game against Montana, the quarterback who gave San Francisco the best years of his life?

“There are three groups,” Geracie explains. “There are Joe’s people, the Branch Montanians, as they’re called. There are Steve’s people and a group that is torn between Joe and Steve. Of the groups, I think Steve’s got the smallest following.”

Young is in an almost impossible position. Since taking over for Montana in 1991, he has won three consecutive NFL passing titles and a most-valuable-player award. But until he wins a Super Bowl, he cannot escape the shadow.

“The fans here are ruthless, they really are,” Mike Garcia, 30, a longtime 49er fan, said as he sipped on a beer at the Sports City Cafe in Cupertino. “Steve’s at a very critical point in his career. Joe’s in a no-lose situation.”

That the rickety Montana, 37 and holding, is turning broadcasters to mush with his heroics does not help Young’s cause.

“The entire Bay Area wants to see this matchup,” San Francisco Examiner columnist Art Spander says. “If Joe gets in and Steve doesn’t, it’ll be just awful for Steve.”

In case the dream matchup doesn’t actually come off, many think it’s necessary to jump on this story in advance.

In Kansas City, Montana said he “couldn’t care less” about meeting Young in the Super Bowl.

At the 49er training facility in Santa Clara, players were interrogated about the possibility. Receiver Jerry Rice, an unabashed Montana supporter, said he was tired of making the comparison.

In back-handed fashion, he noted Young is “going to get better in years to come.”

Rice also told reporters he would certainly do his best to beat Montana’s Chiefs should the teams meet in the Super Bowl.

“It’s not like if we get together in the Super Bowl I’m going to say, ‘Joe, I’ve been so many years with you, I’m going to drop this pass for you,’ ” Rice said.

It is safe to assume, though, that several 49ers have been following Montana closely.

Eric Wright, a San Francisco assistant who played on all four 49er Super Bowl teams, said it would be strange facing his former teammate.

“It will be hard for me,” Wright said. “The whole season in Kansas City, the guys have been pulling for him. We’ll always be friends, but no matter how good of friends we are, when you put on that foreign uniform, it’s all business.”

Though there’s no quantifying the emotions, it appears most 49er fans feel as Wright does.

Greg Gomez, 34, a San Jose resident and die-hard 49er fan, stood outside the team’s complex Thursday, hoping to collect a few autographs. An employee of Santa Clara County, Gomez estimates he makes the trip about seven times a month.

He was standing behind the same thick brush last April the day Montana decided to accept an offer from the Chiefs, ending a chaotic 48-hour saga in the Bay Area.

Montana, who had missed most of two seasons because of injuries, had returned to a hero’s welcome to play the second half in the team’s final regular-season game in 1992, rekindling all the old memories.

He was back in uniform for the playoffs as an understudy to Young, though it seemed clear Montana would not accept the role for long.

After the season, 49er Coach George Seifert ended the speculation when he named Young the team’s starter for 1993. Montana was allowed to seek his own trade. After he settled on Kansas City, 49er management changed its mind and announced that Montana would be the “designated starter” if he remained.

But it was too late.

Gomez and dozens of others swarmed the complex that April day, hoping for an explanation, or a glimpse of Joe, who was inside.

“We stood out here the day he left,” Gomez said. “It was sad. There was one guy out here crying. It was like losing one of his kids. He had this truck, and it was all decorated with 49er mementos.”

But when asked which team he would root for in a San Francisco-Kansas City Super bowl, Gomez did not hesitate.

“I’m rooting for San Francisco,” he said. “Joe? He’s gone now. He’s not here. You’ve got to focus on the team you’re standing behind. I’m not talking bad about him, but he’s gone. And the day he left, he never said goodby. We stood out here behind the brush. He should have addressed the people. He didn’t address anybody.”

The great Montana-Young debate spills into the Bay Area bars at night. You can find lively discussion most evenings at the Sports City Cafe, a favorite 49er hangout. Five investors in the restaurant are former 49ers--Wright, Ronnie Lott, Keena Turner, Roger Craig and Carlton Williamson.

Current and former players often frequent the cafe. Montana used to dine and drink there.

Linda Williams, the restaurant’s general manager, moved to the Bay Area in 1979--from Kansas City.

She’s a lifelong Chief fan.

“Joe being there now really helps me,” Williams said.

Although there is strong Montana sentiment at the Sports City Cafe, it remains a 49er establishment.

Of the prospective Super Bowl matchup, Williams predicted: “I’d say most people will pull for the 49ers, but I don’t think they’d be heartbroken if the Chiefs won.”

Most of the cafe’s regulars agreed.

“This is my team,” Ed Ford, a San Jose bankruptcy appraiser, said as he sipped on a glass of red wine. “This is why I live here. Joe Montana’s not on my team. He’s a wonderful guy, but this is my team.”

Mike Garcia said it was best that Montana left.

“If he was still here, you would have had all that turmoil,” Garcia said. “Neither team would have been in this position had the trade not been made.”

But not everyone agreed.

Tony Kusal, an employee of the Air Force, said he could never root against Montana, no matter the opponent.

Kusal said he hoped Montana will lead a last-minute drive to beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl to show the organization it made a mistake by allowing Montana to leave.

“You believe when he’s in there, you’ll win,” Kusal said. “Half of winning is believing you’ll win.

“Young can win a game, 44-3, and Montana can win a game 27-24. That’s the difference.”

There’s no telling how San Francisco will cope if the great game actually comes off.

Geracie, the Mercury News columnist, guesses there won’t be enough ink for the presses.

“It will be maddening,” he said. “You could conceivably go to the Super Bowl (in Atlanta) and not do anything but write about those two the whole week, maybe without leaving your room.”