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49ers try to continue success against Rams

Nov 21, 2006 - 10:48 PM San Francisco (5-5) at St Louis (4-6) Sunday 1:00 pm EST

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Since becoming coach, Mike Nolan has turned things around for the San Francisco 49ers against the St. Louis Rams.

The 49ers look for their fourth straight win over their NFC West rival on Sunday.

Before Nolan arrived in the Bay Area, the Niners had lost 10 of the previous 12 meetings against the Rams. But Nolan is 3-0 against the Rams, with one of the wins coming this season.

In the first meeting on September 17, the Niners rallied for a 20-13 victory. Frank Gore scored on a 32-yard run and Alex Smith threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Bryant in the third quarter for the Niners, who erased a 10-3 halftime deficit.

Gore rushed for a franchise-record 212 yards on 24 carries and the improving Niners forced five turnovers - two interceptions by cornerback Walt Harris - in a 20-14 victory over first-place Seattle last week.

Gore, who rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown in the previous win at Detroit, has gone over 1,000 yards for the first time in his career.

With Gore leading the way, San Francisco has won three in a row for the first time since 2002. The Niners have not had a four-game winning streak since a five-game run in 2001.

Now Gore, who rushed for 127 yards on 29 carries in the first meeting against the Rams, gets another crack at a struggling unit.

Last Sunday, the Rams saw their losing streak reach five games with a dismal effort on both sides of the ball in a 15-0 loss to Carolina.

St. Louis allowed 242 rushing yards, including 114 to rookie DeAngelo Williams, who became the seventh different back to go over 100 against the Rams this season.

Offensively, the Rams managed just 111 total yards and eight first downs in getting shut out for the first time since 1998. With seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle Orlando Pace out for the season, Marc Bulger was sacked seven times.