Quick Step

Last fall, size alone wasn’t enough for Nate Steinbacher.

Sure, he stood 6-feet-6 and weighed 325 pounds, but he also had to be quick when he stepped onto the football field for Esperanza High. A lot quicker than he had been as a junior.

So Steinbacher, who played offensive tackle, spent the off-season lifting weights. He logged plenty of hours running on the track and up a steep street near campus in the Yorba Linda foothills.

The work paid off. Esperanza won its third consecutive Sunset League title last fall and Steinbacher was named to the all-league team and earned a scholarship to USC.

He also landed a spot in today’s 48th Shrine game at Cerritos College. The game, which starts at 5 p.m., features California all-stars against their counterparts from Texas.

Steinbacher said he will measure his performance in the game--he is expected to start--as a referendum on just how far he has come.

“I have to prove to myself that I’m ready for college,” he said. “These are the best two teams you can put together. Sometimes people say that you don’t always play against the best competition every week in high school football. In this game I’d like to prove that I can handle these guys.”

Steinbacher transferred from Costa Mesa to Esperanza after his freshman season but was forced to sit out his sophomore year because the Southern Section ruled that his transfer--he moved to Anaheim to live with his father--didn’t meet the section’s definition of a change in residence.

He started for the Aztec varsity as a junior in 1997 but wasn’t, by his own admission, one of the league’s elite linemen. In fact, he said he was rough around the edges.

“Because I didn’t play as a sophomore, I think it took me the entire season to learn the system,” Steinbacher said. “I didn’t really know what I was doing.”

Nonetheless, a rivalry developed between Los Alamitos defensive tackle Bernard Riley, who also will attend USC, and Steinbacher. Keeping Riley from getting the better of him, Steinbacher said, was one of the main reasons he worked so hard last summer.

During Shrine practices this past week in San Juan Capistrano, Steinbacher and Riley haven’t been shy about going head-to-head.

“On the field we like to get after each other,” Steinbacher said. “The last few days, I’ve called him out to hit against. It will help us both in the long run to go against each other.”

Riley, The Times Orange County Lineman of the Year, has newfound respect for Steinbacher.

“He really improved from his junior year to his senior year,” Riley said. “I’d say that in his junior year, I got the better of him. But this year, he grew into his body. In my eyes, he’s one of the greatest athletes out there right now.”

Esperanza Coach Gary Meek agreed.

“He was a tremendous player for us,” Meek said. “He ranks right up there with some of the best we’ve ever had, not only because of his physical size and dominance in run blocking, but he is really quick. He has the whole package.”

Newhall Hart’s Dan Houghton, who is coaching the line for the California team, also has been impressed by Steinbacher.

“He has great feet,” Houghton said. “He moves really well. I told the tackles that I might use them at guard on certain plays, just to give us a different look. I have just as much confidence in him getting out in front on a bootleg play as I do any of our regular guards.”

Steinbacher said he never doubted his pass-blocking ability but that improving his overall speed has helped him downfield.

“My run blocking was much better this year,” he said. “Maybe I was a little tentative in the past, but in my senior year, I could always find someone to hit.”

Steinbacher’s next goal? Drop about 30 pounds--he is now 6-7, 330-plus--and lift even more weights in order to earn some quality playing time with the Trojans next season.

“I’d like to establish myself as one of the dominant linemen in college football,” he said. “There are so few linemen at USC, I should play, but I don’t want to go in unprepared.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Prep Football

* What: California-Texas Shrine Football Game

* When: Today, 5 p.m.

* Where: Cerritos College, 11111 E. Alondra Blvd., Norwalk

* TV: Fox Sports Net

* Basics: Thirty-six of the best graduated high school players from California will be matched against their counterparts from Texas. California won last year’s game, 10-5, and leads the series, 4-0. The Shrine All-Star Classic began in 1952 with a North-South format for California. Selected to participate from Orange County are seven players: Nathan Fikse (Esperanza/UCLA), K/P; Keenan Howry (Los Alamitos/Oregon), WR; Adolph Keyes (Los Alamitos/Oregon), DB; Kevin Mitchell (Mater Dei/Oregon), LB; Bernard Riley (Los Alamitos/USC), DL; Nate Steinbacher (Esperanza/USC), OL; Lenny Vandermade (Mater Dei/USC).

* Tickets: $15 reserved, $8-$10 general admission

* Information: (213) 749-0166