01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, August 29, 2004

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

At 6-foot-4, 305 pounds, Russ Hochstein casts a large shadow. But the right guard from Hartington, Neb., 26, is tirelessly amiable. With a flat-top haircut and hair-trigger smile, he's got bales of pleasantness.

Q: What was your first car?

A: An Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais, 1991.

Q: What did you like about it?

A: It was four doors.

Q: You liked the four doors?

A: And I bought it with low mileage.

Q: How many accidents has Russ Hochstein had?

A: Two.

Q: How many were Russ's fault?

A: One.

Q: What were you doing?

A: I was daydreaming and I rear-ended someone at a stop sign. It was a man. He had four miles on his truck when I hit him.

Q: How old were you?

A: 19. He just said, "I'm glad no one was hurt and that you have insurance."

Q: I bet he was disappointed you were bigger than him.

A: I think he was kind of torqued. He was on his way to work that morning but he really couldn't do too much, I was a bigger guy than he was even at 19.

Q: How much did you get paid to play at the University of Nebraska?

A: I didn't get paid one dime. I was on a full scholarship. End of story. I get (stuff) like that from Adrian Klemm all the time.

Q: Were you treated with more reverence as a Nebraska football player than you are here?

A: It's kind of two different worlds. In Nebraska, that's all we had so everybody got looked at with scrutiny all the time. In the NFL, they don't look at you with as much scrutiny, but they do know you because it's a high-profile sport.

Q: A guy like Buck Rasmussen (a first-year defensive lineman with the Pats), that's a great football name. Maybe a little better than Russ Hochstein, no disrespect to the Hochsteins.

A: It's a good football name.

Q: There's a lot of wiseguys on the offensive line. Who's the funniest?

A: Matt Light is probably the funniest. He finds humor in everything. I play a passive role. I sit back and watch it happen because I can't match wits with these guys. They're smart alecks. I learned my lesson. I try to match wits and I get outdone so I don't try to get involved with that stuff.