PITTSBURGH - NFL preseason games are all about getting a team's veterans a quarter or two of work, then turning it over to the newer guys.

During the Steelers' game with the Houston Texans at Heinz Field Saturday, two of the experienced guys provided a half's worth of effort and excitement in the first quarter before the rookies got their shots.

Halfback Jerome Bettis and wide receiver Hines Ward each contributed a touchdown in the period to fuel the Steelers' 38-3 win over the Texans.

Head coach Bill Cowher is expected to go with free-agent running back Duce Staley as the starter when the regular season opens Sept. 12, but Bettis got the start against Houston and made the most of his opportunity in the Steelers' three offensive series of the first quarter.

"The younger guys have to prove they can play in this league," Bettis said. "I've proven it. Now, I just have to show it."

With the Steelers leading 7-0, quarterback Tommy Maddox hit receiver Plaxico Burress with a 26-yard pass that took Pittsburgh from its own 44-yard line to the Houston 30.

That's when the Steelers decided to ride The Bus.

With the offensive line, which was without right guard Kendall Simmons, providing some good blocking, Bettis ran around the left end to pick up 14 yards before the Texans pushed him out of bounds at the Houston 16.

Bettis then ran up the middle for pickups of 10 and 5 yards before going back up the gut for a 1-yard touchdown.

In those three series, Bettis ran 10 times for 48 yards - a 4.8 yards-per-carry average that was a yard and a half better than his average in the 2003 season - and the touchdown.

"It felt good to get some work in and get into a rhythm," he said.

When members of the media seemed to marvel at Bettis' exploits, he was quick to put them in their place a bit.

"(After the off-season), everybody expects me to be prehistoric. The last game I played in this stadium I got 100 yards," Bettis said, referring to the 115 yards he collected in the Steelers' 40-24 win over San Diego on Dec. 21, 2003.

"I just do what I do, and I do it well," he added.

Cowher liked what he saw from Bettis, as well as from the rest of the Steelers' running backs, who picked up 205 total rushing yards on the Texans and got touchdowns from Willie Parker, Dante Brown and Verron Haynes, in addition to the one by Bettis.

"I've been encouraged by the running game from the get-go in training camp," Cowher said. "It was a good, solid outing."

Meanwhile, in only his second preseason game of 2004, Ward looked to be in midseason form.

On the Steelers' second offensive drive, which Maddox kept alive with a 9-yard scramble on a third-and-9 situation, Ward worked his way open and gathered in a Maddox pass for a 29-yard completion that moved the team from the Houston 38 to the 9.

After two Bettis runs for a total of 5 yards, Maddox found Ward open in the end zone for a 4-yard scoring strike.

In his brief period of work, Ward caught three passes for 54 yards and the touchdown.

"I'm ready," Ward said. "I think Tommy trusted me to be where I needed to be."

The Steelers dominated Houston in almost all phases of the game. But they face a more formidable challenge in the last two preseason games when they tackle both of the teams that played in the NFC Championship game last season: the Eagles in Philadelphia on Thursday and the Carolina Panthers here Sept. 2.

"Not to take anything away from Detroit and Houston, but the next two games we play, we'll find out what we are made of," Cowher said.