Jan. 8, 2003

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Former Western Washington University football standout Erik Totten has been activated by the Pittsburgh Steelers (11-5-1) for their AFC divisional playoff game Saturday against the Tennessee Titans (11-5) at Nashville, Tenn.

Pittsburgh placed safety Mike Logan on the injured reserve list Monday after he injured his right knee in the Steelers' 36-33 Wild Card game victory over Cleveland on Sunday. Totten was activated to replace Logan.

Totten has spent most of this season on Pittsburgh's practice squad. He was one of the final cuts in training camp and was later re-signed by the team. The 5-foot-9, 195-pounder originally signed with Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent out of Western.

Totten was named to five All-America teams as a senior at Western in 2000. He led the Vikings in tackles (69) and ranked among the NCAA II national leaders in two categories, being No.14 in punt returns (15.7 avg.) and No.17 in kickoff returns (27.3).

Western's career leader in both punt (1,242) and kickoff (1,347) return yards, Totten set school, league and northwest small college records with 612 punt return yards on 39 attempts, returning one 69 yards for a touchdown; and had 491 kickoff return yards on 18 attempts, including an 87-yard touchdown return.

Totten was activated by Pittsburgh for the first time this season on Nov. 21 and became the first Western player to appear in a regular-season National Football League game when he played on special teams against Cincinnati on Nov. 24. He was released on Nov. 28, then re-signed to the practice squad on Nov. 30.

The Pittsburgh-Tennessee game, which will be televised on CBS, begins at 1:30 p.m. PDT Saturday. Totten will wear uniform No.39.