THE INSIDERS

Football is a science to Zeke Moreno. The middle linebacker watches film at night, studies his opponents, learns his defense inside and out.

“It’s a matter of knowing your job,” he says. “I like to read my keys and make adjustments.”

Football is mostly physical for Markus Steele. The weakside linebacker has the speed to watch and react, to come screaming off the edge and make tackles in the backfield.

“Zeke is the technical player,” he says. “I’m more of the running-around type player.”

Their styles may differ, but the USC linebackers have found a common ground, a bond forged on the field.

The duo led the team in tackles in 1999, two consistently bright spots in an up-and-down season. They also showed a knack for big plays, ranking among the Pacific 10 Conference leaders in forcing turnovers.

Now, as the core of the USC defense, the seniors are on the preseason list of candidates for the Butkus Award, which goes to the top college linebacker in the nation.

“The best pair of tandem inside linebackers that I have ever seen,” said San Jose State Coach Dave Baldwin, whose team will face them Saturday at the Coliseum.

“We’ve watched film and one moment you’ll think Zeke Moreno is the better one, then you watch Markus Steele and think he looks better,” Baldwin said. “They are tremendous together.”

Maybe that is because they are rarely apart, standing within a few feet of each other on defense, taking the same classes, talking football before the lecture begins. Nights before games, they share a room in the team hotel.

“It’s funny,” Moreno says. “You’d think with two good athletes, our egos would get in the way.”

Instead, their friendship has grown strong, in part, because of the difficulties they have endured.

Moreno came to USC at a time when Chris Claiborne ruled the middle, making All-American and winning the school’s only Butkus Award. That temporarily pushed Moreno outside, a position that did not suit his style. When he returned to the middle, he had big shoes to fill.

Steele arrived last season as a junior college transfer and showed immediate promise but struggled because of injuries. He had shoulder surgery in the off-season and worried about returning to full strength.

Both players--like their teammates--carry the additional frustration of last season’s 6-6 record.

“If someone is doubting you,” Moreno said, “you want to go out there and prove them wrong.”

That is another part of the bond, the manner in which they have approached this season.

On the practice field, Moreno chastises Steele for missing reads. Steele goads his teammate to hustle.

In games, Moreno is the quarterback of the defense, calling alignments, reminding Steele to watch for the bootleg or a pass to the tight end. Steele will make a big play and tell his buddy, “Now it’s your turn.”

Their relationship is such that they constantly help, needle, cajole each other.

“Before plays, during plays, after plays,” Steele says. “If I tell him something, if he tells me something, we know it’s the truth.”

They can be competitive without being mad or resentful. When asked about Steele’s quickness, Moreno holds his finger and thumb an inch apart and says, “He’s a little, little, little faster than me.” There is a smile on his face.

And for all their differences, they are similar in several important ways.

The way they can joke with each other. Their love of the game. The toughness they bring to it.

“These are big, physical guys,” Coach Paul Hackett says. “In a rough-and-tumble game where you have lead backs and you’re being physical. . . . They’re pretty good.”

Facing Penn State’s straight-ahead running attack in the season opener, Moreno showed his ability to shed blockers and plug the hole, leading the Trojans with six tackles.

“A great linebacking corps,” Penn State fullback Mike Cerimele says. “They fly to the ball.”

Against Colorado two weeks ago, Steele used his quickness--and an improved knowledge of the game--to make nine tackles in what Bill Young, the USC defensive coordinator, called his best performance as a Trojan. With the score tied in the fourth quarter, he sacked the quarterback twice.

“Whenever you have a Zeke Moreno and a Markus Steele, there’s a sigh of relief,” USC cornerback Darrell Rideaux says. “You know one guy cannot block either of them.”

But the duo might be tested against San Jose State. The Spartans have Deonce Whitaker, the No. 3 rusher in the nation, who has run for big yardage against Nebraska and Stanford. They also put three or four receivers on the field at a time.

That should force the Trojans into nickel coverage, sending the third linebacker, Kori Dickerson, to the sideline. Not only will Moreno and Steele shoulder the burden against the run, they must drop into coverage on play-action passes.

“Do you play on your heels? Do you play leaning forward?” Hackett says. “That kind of game does not play to their strength.”

So the duo has watched hours of film together the last two weeks. They have talked about assignments, about making sure tackles with the defense spread so thin.

Tonight, at the hotel, they will review the game plan once more, testing each other on what they should do in various situations. They will give each other tips, get each other ready.

“It’s the respect we have,” Steele says.

Moreno responds: “We’re like brothers.”