St. Louis ? Of all times to be injured, Tyoka Jackson is about to miss his biggest rivalry game.

The St. Louis defensive lineman is doubtful for tonight’s game against Tampa Bay, for whom he played for five seasons, because of a pulled left hamstring. By his count, he had missed only one practice in his career before getting hurt.

“This is a bad time for me right now,” Jackson said. “I don’t like missing practices, and the thought of missing a game is just killing me, it’s tearing my heart out — especially against these guys.”

The Rams (3-2) and Bucs (1-4) were two of the NFC’s premier teams earlier this decade, and this will be their fourth straight meeting on a Monday. Tampa Bay has won the last four regular-season matchups, although the Rams beat the Buccaneers in the 1999 NFC championship game en route to their only Super Bowl victory.

Both teams have struggled early this season, although both are coming off perhaps their best game. The Rams rallied from a 17-point deficit in the final six minutes of regulation before beating the Seahawks in overtime. The Bucs, after an 0-4 start two years after their Super Bowl championship, rallied behind second-string quarterback Brian Griese to beat the Saints.

Jackson left the Bucs as a free agent in 2000 for the Rams, where he has become a team captain. So the series has special meaning to him.

But he put his odds of playing at less than 10 percent.

“I want to be out there bad, especially against my former team on Monday night in an NFC game where we really need a win to keep these good things going,” Jackson said. “I want to be a part of that. If you’re limping around, you can’t help anyone out.”

Jackson was hurt in the first quarter of the Seahawks game when Matt Hasselbeck evaded a sack.

“Hasselbeck is a strong quarterback, and he’s evasive, and he stepped up in the pocket just as I was trying to hit him,” Jackson said. “It slung me around, and my leg kind of went out, and I guess it put too much stress on the hamstring.”