After his team finished its final practice at home last week, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had some more homework to do for Super Bowl XLIII. He wanted to watch video from a 2006 college game between Penn State and Michigan.

In particular, he wanted to watch a matchup between Michigan defensive end and Lombardi Trophy winner LaMarr Woodley and Penn State left tackle Levi Brown.

It will be the same matchup in Super Bowl XLIII when the Steelers play the Arizona Cardinals, even though both players are at slightly different positions.

"Levi was always a guy who, every time we played Penn State, I always felt that was my biggest challenge," said Woodley, the starting left outside linebacker with the Steelers. "He was one of those guys where the running back was 10 yards downfield and he was still on his block."

"I remember him never giving up on any kind of play," said Brown, the starting right tackle for the Cardinals and a No. 1 draft choice. "He was a guy who was able to get a lot of pressure on the quarterback, just like he is now."

Woodley had two sacks in that 2006 game against Penn State -- one of five multiple-sack games that season -- and was named Big Ten player of the week for his performance against the Nittany Lions.

Multiple-sack games are becoming the norm for Woodley, even in his first year as an NFL starter. He had four during the regular season, and registered two sacks in each of the playoff victories against the San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Ravens. Add those to the two sacks he had in the playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars last year, and Woodley is the first player in NFL history to have multiple sacks in three consecutive playoff games.

"He had his hand in the dirt when we played him at Michigan and now he's in a stand-up position," Brown said, sitting in the stands yesterday at Raymond James Stadium and recalling his college matchup against Woodley, a strong-side defensive end for the Wolverines.

"He's the same type of athlete, only he's getting better. ...He's the type of player, who, in any situation, you can count on him to cause some kind of disruption."

Brown will have an important role Sunday because he and left tackle Mike Gandy will have the responsibility of stopping Woodley and right outside linebacker James Harrison, the No. 1 sack tandem in the AFC, combining for a club-record 27.5 sacks in the regular season. The duo has five sacks in the postseason.

"With both of those guys on the outside, and with the guys they have in the middle, trying to slide your protection one way or another is going to create a matchup in their favor," Brown said.

Because of the way the Cardinals employ their three-wide receiver offense with Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston, they often do not have an extra tight end or running back to help with protection, leaving their tackles in one-on-one matchups.

"We're opened up a lot and those guys are singled up," said Cardinals offensive line coach Russ Grimm, a former Steelers assistant. "Levi's getting better. We brought him in last year and he got thrown right in there. But we felt he could do that coming out [of college]. We felt he had the mentality to play as a rookie, and he bounced back this year."