In 1991, Puffy Combs was a largely unknown rap promoter whose celebrity basketball game became forever linked to a horrible event: the stampede that killed nine people at City College.

Today, Mr. Combs, also known as Puff Daddy, is at the top of rap, a multimillionaire impresario and Grammy Award-winning performer who runs one of urban music's most popular labels, Bad Boy Entertainment. But yesterday, Mr. Combs was confronting his past, testifying about the deadly night at City College.

''City College is something I deal with every day of my life,'' Mr. Combs said outside court yesterday. ''But the things that I deal with can in no way measure up to the pain that the families deal with. I just pray for the families and pray for the children who lost their lives every day.''

Mr. Combs appeared yesterday in the State Court of Claims in Manhattan. He is a witness in a lawsuit against City College that was filed on behalf of some of the victims of the stampede. This is the first state court case related to the stampede to go to trial.