PITTSBURGH (AP) -- On the night the Cleveland Browns returned to the NFL following a three-year absence, the Pittsburgh Steelers taught them a lesson they haven't forgotten.

It takes two teams to make a rivalry.

Despite the carnival-like sideshow surrounding the revived Browns' first game in their new stadium on Sept. 12, comedian Drew Carey's cheerleading and enough pomp and circumstance to do a Super Bowl proud, the Browns were a big, big flop.

The Steelers made certain of that, dominating 43-0 in as one-sided a game as the NFL has seen in years, outgaining the Browns 460-40 and holding them to two first downs.

Rather than being welcomed back to the NFL, the Browns felt more like welcome mats.

The Browns (1-8) have actually won a game since then, upsetting the New Orleans Saints on a last-play Tim Couch desperation pass. They also played respectably in losing to Jacksonville, Cincinnati and New England.

But, despite being halfway through the first season of their second stay in the NFL, the Browns realize they won't truly be the Browns -- the real Cleveland Browns -- until they beat the Steelers (5-3) again.

Even if it probably isn't realistic to expect it to happen Sunday at Three Rivers Stadium.

"If we can go in and be competitive and challenge them, then I think the rivalry can be renewed," Browns coach Chris Palmer said. "But if it's a situation where they beat you 43 to zip, then it's not much of a rivalry."

Palmer formerly was the offensive coordinator at Jacksonville, which displaced Cleveland as the Steelers' top rival during the Browns' absence. As far as most Steelers are concerned, the Jaguars still rate as the team they most like to beat.

After all, not many current Steelers were around the last time the Browns played in Pittsburgh, in 1995, and only four of them were there when the Browns last beat them seven games ago in 1993.

"It may take a couple of games to get it back, because they've been out of the league for quite some time and when one team is out, you develop other rivalries," linebacker Levon Kirkland said. "From our fans' standpoint, it's still a pretty big rivalry. It's a rivalry for us, too, but it's not quite like it was before."

The Browns also aren't the team they were on Sept. 12, having replaced quarterback Ty Detmer with Couch and added former Miami running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar. But are they 43 points better?

Obviously, the Steelers don't think so.

"The cities are only two hours away, so it's going to be a great game and there's going to be some fans getting into it," Steelers safety Lee Flowers said. "These are the kind of games you want to play. I'm blessed to be with the better team."

Still, the Steelers (5-3), winners of three in a row since losing three straight, don't lack incentive, Flowers said. First, they can add to their winning streak. Second, they can pad some personal statistics.

"This week, you should be pumped up, because here's a time you can get a little ball here, an interception here, whatever," Flowers said.

A Steelers defense that has yielded a league-low seven touchdowns from scrimmage expects to get to Couch, to rattle him, to pressure him into throwing interceptions and hurried incompletions.

Offensively, the Steelers plan to feed more and more of new coordinator Kevin Gilbride's offense to quarterback Kordell Stewart, who hasn't thrown an interception during the brief winning streak. Stewart hit his first six passes for 93 yards as the Steelers beat San Francisco 27-6 last week.

"He's getting better and better," said coach Bill Cowher, a former Browns player who is 5-0 against Cleveland in Pittsburgh.

Couch has played admirably for a rookie, throwing seven touchdown passes. But, as with any rookie quarterback, there are growing pains, some more intense than others. Last week, he was 9-for-21 for 57 yards and an interception in a 41-9 loss at home to Baltimore.

"I knew it was going to be rough," Couch said. "You never know it's going to be this rough."

And he hasn't played a Browns-Steelers game in Pittsburgh.

"Hopefully, we can make it a better game this time than in the last game," Couch said.

Even if the Steelers, who insist they're not overconfident yet privately scoff at suggestions they could actually lose, probably don't expect one a week before they play a key division game at Tennessee (6-2). "This is definitely not the same team we played the first week of the season," Flowers said. "We're not taking them for granted. This is not an off week for us. We're not preparing for Tennessee or anything like that. We're preparing for the Browns."

Just not the old Browns.

CLEVELAND Season schedule and results

PITTSBURGH Season schedule and results

September 12 Pittsburgh L 0-43 September 19 @Tennessee L 9-26 September 26 @Baltimore L 10-17 October 3 New England L 7-19 October 10 Cincinnati L 17-18 October 17 @Jacksonville L 7-24 October 24 @St. Louis L 3-34 October 31 @New Orleans W 21-16 November 7 Baltimore L 9-41 November 14 @Pittsburgh 1:00pm ET November 21 Carolina 1:00pm ET November 28 Tennessee 1:00pm ET December 5 @San Diego 4:15pm ET December 12 @Cincinnati 1:00pm ET December 19 Jacksonville 1:00pm ET December 26 Indianapolis 1:00pm ET

September 12 @Cleveland W 43-0 September 19 @Baltimore W 23-20 September 26 Seattle L 10-29 October 3 Jacksonville L 3-17 October 10 @Buffalo L 21-24 October 17 @Cincinnati W 17-3 October 25 Atlanta W 13-9 November 7 @San Francisco W 27-6 November 14 Cleveland 1:00pm ET November 21 @Tennessee 1:00pm ET November 28 Cincinnati 1:00pm ET December 2 @Jacksonville 8:20pm ET December 12 Baltimore 1:00pm ET December 18 @Kansas City 12:40pm ET December 26 Carolina 1:00pm ET January 2 Tennessee 4:15pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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