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Wednesday, November 26, 1997

Oilers, Cowboys renew longtime rivalry

By JOHN GLENNON

Scripps Howard News Service

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- So the Dallas Cowboys are only 6-6 this year. So they're only in third place in the NFC East. So they're coming off a 45-17 whipping.

So what?

They're still the Dallas Cowboys, and playing Dallas on Thanksgiving Day is still a big deal for any team -- especially one like the Tennessee Oilers, who've made national television appearances about as frequently as Salman Rushdie in recent years.

Throw in a few other factors -- like the Oilers' many ties to the Lone Star state, the friends and family who'll be watching in Texas Stadium, and Tennessee's quest for a playoff berth -- and it's easy to see why there's a lot of excitement leading up to Thursday's game.

"Everybody's going to be sitting back eating turkey and that game is going to be the talk for at least three days," Oilers linebacker Lonnie Marts said. "Guys are going to go back to work and talk about it.

"It's a chance to show what we're made of, and a lot of people haven't seen that."

The Oilers' last big-time national TV appearance came on Nov. 21, 1994, when Jeff Fisher's game first as head coach coincided with a Monday night matchup against the New York Giants.

There have been Sunday night appearances the past two years, but nothing like the magnitude of Thanksgiving.

"It's a good opportunity to do good things in front of a lot of people," Fisher said. "We haven't had that opportunity the last couple of years."

In years past, the Cowboys and Houston Oilers often met for preseason scrimmages, exhibition games and regular-season contests, so there's still a good deal of familiarity between the two teams.

"Everyone knows each other," said Oilers cornerback Anthony Dorsett, whose father, Tony, was a Hall of Fame running back for the Cowboys. "Whenever we scrimmage the Cowboys and when we play them, it gets kind of physical."

There are plenty of other Oilers with Texas ties.

Linebacker Joe Bowden, for instance, is a North Mesquite, Texas, native; played under Cowboys coach Barry Switzer at Oklahoma; and was a Houston Oiler for five years before the team moved.

"I had to buy 30 tickets for this game, and that's more than I've ever bought," Bowden said. "It's always good to be in front of family and friends. It'll be that much better, more exciting."

Fisher figures the added incentives will be a boost.

"Because of where you are physically at this time of year, I think those kind of things help," he said. "At 3 o'clock on Thursday afternoon, both teams will be ready to play, and they'll both be pumped up."

But the Oilers are aware that emotion alone won't be enough to beat the Cowboys.

Though Dallas hasn't had a record this poor heading into Thanksgiving since 1990, the Cowboys are 5-0 in Texas Stadium this year, and they've won six of their last seven Thanksgiving games.

"Everybody's up for this game, and everybody loves to play on Thanksgiving," Oilers quarterback Steve McNair said. "But we've got to settle down. Just because we're on national television, we can't let that take over our frame of mind.

"We have to keep our focus."

(John Glennon writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)