HE was once best known as “that guy from ‘The Sopranos,’ ” but now Louis Lombardi is getting identified by another name – Edgar Stiles.

OK, so his own name is not exactly a household word – except maybe on Stadium Avenue in the Bronx, in the enclave known as Country Club, where Lombardi grew up.

But fans of “24” are talking about Edgar, the watchful, introverted techno-wiz Lombardi plays on the Fox suspense series.

“I figure he’s just a person who’s been alone all his life, focused on his work and his computer and his mother,” says Lombardi, 37, about Edgar, on the phone from California.

Last week, Edgar put his computer know-how to work to corner a Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU) spy, the scheming Marianne Taylor (Aisha Tyler).

And tonight (9 p.m. on Fox/5), Edgar’s at the forefront again when he learns that his mother’s life is in danger from the aftermath of a nuclear meltdown at a power plant near her home.

On “24,” Lombardi is one of the show’s principal cast members this season. On “The Sopranos,” he had the minor but memorable role of Skip Lipari, the FBI agent who was put in charge of a high-profile mob informant, Sal “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero.

He was seen briefly on nine episodes of “The Sopranos,” the last one in March 2001, and yet, rabid fans still recognize him everywhere.

“Let me tell you something,” Lombardi says, “if you ever came out with me and you walked around, you would think I was James Gandolfini. You have to see the audience reaction. It’s insane.

“With ‘The Sopranos,’ people say, ‘You’re the guy who busted Pussy. You’re the cop, right?’

“Now with ’24,’ everywhere I go, it’s not, ‘You’re the guy from “24,” ‘ now it’s ‘Edgar Stiles.’ People are going crazy. They love Edgar.”