BLOCK OF ICE VIKINGS TACKLE STEUSSIE AIMS TO FREEZE ADVERSARIES.

Byline: KAREN CROUSE

Todd Steussie soaked in a tub of sub-40 degree water for 20 minutes after a Minnesota Vikings practice earlier this week. It's part of his daily in-season routine, this feigning to be something an ice fisherman might snare.

The seventh-year offensive tackle swears that the frigid water reduces lactic acid build-up in his leg muscles and inflammation in his knee joints. Hey, whatever works.

Steussie, 30, must be doing something right. He isn't just an ice man, he's an iron man. The Agoura High product has played in 111 of 112 regular-season games with the Vikings since joining the organization as the No. 19 overall pick of the 1994 draft.

The only game Steussie has missed was at Tampa Bay in November of 1998. He hopes to make up that absence in the splashiest of ways. The Vikings (12-5) are so close to a berth in Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa, Fla., that Steussie can practically hear the surf.

There's nothing like dreaming of those delightful Gulf breezes to make a person numb to the fact he's in a steel tub freezing his tush off. It's for moments such as Sunday's NFC championship matchup between the Vikings and the New York Giants (13-4) that Steussie stoically puts up with all kinds of discomfort.

The former California standout has played with protesting knees and a separated shoulder. He employs a chiropractor, a massage therapist and an acupuncturist in his personal war against pain. None of them were much help in alleviating the worst ache Steussie has experienced in his pro career.

He suffered it toward the end of the first half of the NFC Championship Game two seasons ago against Atlanta. The Vikings were ahead 20-7 and angling for a score that would have effectively de-clawed the Falcons when Steussie's man evaded his grasp and sacked Randall Cunningham, knocking the football out of the quarterback's hands in the process.

The Falcons recovered and drove for a touchdown, then rode that second wind to a 30-27 overtime win.

``That play kind of changed the momentum,'' said Steussie, for whom the memory remains very much a sore spot. ``It was hard being a positive influence on the team when there was something you did that could correlate to the loss.''

Steussie took no solace in the fact he had allowed only one sack during the 1998 regular season. If anything, it made him feel worse about his blown assignment. A win Sunday would shrink that memory so much he'd hardly feel it anymore.

A win Sunday would make Steussie feel, well, super.

``I was telling my wife (Erica) the other day,'' Steussie said, ``that if we play in the Super Bowl I want to bring my son.''

Jack Steussie is only 16 months old. He's a little young to appreciate football's grandest stage.

``But I know he'd be (upset) in a few years,'' Steussie said, ``if he finds out that his dad played in the Super Bowl and he wasn't there.''

When linemen are doing their jobs well, you hardly notice they're around. The public may need a speed card to identify Steussie and company but Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper and running back Robert Smith know the score.

Culpepper's playoff debut last week was a smashing success in no small part because his line kept him out of the reach of a New Orleans defense that led the league in sacks.

The quarterback, playing with a sprained ankle, completed 17 of 31 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns in the Vikings' 34-16 win over the Saints in a divisional semifinal.

Culpepper earned NFL offensive player of the week honors for his performance, which made Steussie feel proud.

``Daunte was a little dinged up,'' Steussie said. ``That was our job, to keep him from getting hurt any worse.''

Of course, with Steussie it's not just a job, it's a labor of love. Sweat, blood and quivers, that's what Steussie delivers.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Agoura High graduate, Todd Steussie has been an iron man on the Vikings' offensive line.

Paul Spinelli/NFL Photos

(2) Vikings tackle Todd Steussie has pancaked opponents and helped running back Robert Smith and quarterback Daunte Culpepper excel this season.

Craig Lassig/AFP