Over the last two years, the San Francisco 49ers' record against the Dallas Cowboys has been a downer: three meetings, two in NFC championship games, and all losses.
They're still hanging in there, bruised egoes and all, and in Sunday's rematch the 49ers will be trying to reverse their no-win situation and regain the psychological edge."This lets us know what type of team we have," 49ers tackle Steve Wallace said. "There's no secret they're the team to beat out there. Instead of competing with them, we have to get past them. We're not just looking to be at their level."
"It's a game everybody wants, wants real bad," added San Francisco linebacker Ken Norton Jr., facing his former Dallas team for the first time.
Dallas (8-1) enters the game with the league's best record and a six-game winning streak, the most recent a 38-10 dismantling of the New York Giants on Monday night.
Emmitt Smith, who has rushed for 294 yards and scored five times in the Cowboys' last three wins over San Francisco, had a club record 35 carries for 163 yards and two touchdowns in Dallas' latest win.
"I like the way we're playing but this is the test because Dallas has great personnel all the way around," 49ers free safety Merton Hanks said. "We all know we have to go through Dallas, sooner or later. We'll see how it works out."
San Francisco (7-2) has picked itself up since its second straight NFC championship loss last January at Dallas, and also is on a four-game roll entering Sunday's rematch.
The 49ers' defense, which has six new starters, registered its fourth score in six games in last week's 37-22 win at Washington. The 49ers also are clicking offensively with Steve Young leading the league in passing and the once-battered offensive line returning to health.
"We know what's at stake, not only in the standings and for the playoffs but how important it is to this organization. That's why we were brought in," added linebacker Gary Plummer, who was signed as a free agent along with Norton, Deion Sanders, Rickey Jackson and Richard Dent as part of San Francisco's offseason makeover.
"They needed to improve their speed. They needed to improve their attitude and they needed to be more physical. Hopefully, we've provided some of that," Plummer said. "So I think this is an extremely important game."
Hanks said the game was important because home-field advantage in the playoffs may ride on it.
San Francisco defensive tackle Dana Stubblefield said the 49ers are not treating the game as a "must-win" because there's still plenty of games to play. But there's no doubt a win would be a huge morale boost and go a long way toward easing the 49ers monotony of defeat against the Cowboys.
"It's hard to keep it in perspective because these are the Dallas Cowboys," Stubblefield said. "They've whupped us twice in the NFC championship and in the regular season. Definitely, some guys still have a chip on their shoulder. There's just something about playing this team that you really want to come ready to play."