St. Louis tries to get back on track

SAN FRANCISCO -- When Brandon Lloyd was a college student interning at a St. Louis television station, Rams receiver Isaac Bruce gave a few tips on NFL life to the Illinois standout.

When Rashaun Woods was preparing for the draft at Oklahoma State last year, Bruce called him to provide insight and instruction.

If Bruce had known the young receivers would end up with the San Francisco 49ers, he would have been no less generous with his advice. In fact, the star receiver hopes to provide a little schooling for the 49ers secondary as well tonight.

"If it's anything I would want in return, that is what I'm going to give," said Bruce, who leads the NFL with 25 catches for 348 yards. "If I give some advice and he takes it to heart, it's only going to help him."

The latest edition of the 49ers' biggest rivalry doesn't have the same luster of recent meetings, and not just because San Francisco has lost eight of its last 10 against the Rams. In recent years, two of the NFL's most potent offenses traded points and bad feelings in entertaining matchups; these days, both teams just need a win, however ugly.

St. Louis is 1-2 after consecutive losses to Atlanta and New Orleans, while the 49ers are 0-3 for just the second time since 1979. The Niners were expected to be one of the NFL's worst teams, but the Rams need a victory to keep up their spirits.

"I think it's still hot," 49ers defensive tackle Bryant Young said of the rivalry. "It's still a division game. We respect them, and we like to play our best against them."

The Rams started 1-2 last season, but finished 12-4 to win the NFC West. Coach Mike Martz believes a similar turnaround can occur this season if his players make the same adjustments, but Martz's unwillingness to make adjustments has opened him up to criticism.

"There are a lot of things going on, and they are certainly fixable," Martz said. "We felt like early in the year, we may struggle in certain areas until guys come along a little bit. I think we got better this week than we were the week before. We just need to clean some things up, some miscues that we've had, correct them and move on."

The Rams have definite weaknesses on defense. They haven't been able to stop the run this season, and they're the only team that hasn't forced a turnover.

But this rivalry usually is decided by the Greatest Show on Turf's success against the 49ers' defense. If Martz intends to run the ball more, San Francisco might be a great place to start: Marshall Faulk has enjoyed several big games against the 49ers, whose fans love to boo the former MVP.

But the Rams also get a warm reception in California from fans who haven't forgotten their roots.

"I expect to see the fans rowdy for the Sunday night game," Bruce said. "I expect to see sprinkled spots of old Los Angeles Rams jerseys in the stands and cheering us on."