DATE: Monday, October 13, 1997              TAG: 9710130132

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: LANDOVER, MD.                     LENGTH:  119 lines

CAN SKINS, COWBOYS JUMP-START RIVALRY? NATIONAL TV AND FIGHTING FOR FIRST PLACE IN THE NFC SHOULD HELP.

The question kept popping up every time a Washington Redskin was interviewed last week: Is the rivalry between the Cowboys and the Redskins as intense as ever?

Some say yes.

``I think it's still going to be as intense as it always was, whether we play in a new stadium, RFK or a parking lot, whatever,'' said guard Tre' Johnson. ``We're two teams that get up for each other. The fans expect it, we expect it, it's going to be a hell of a game.''

Some say no.

``It's just another game, an important game, but I don't feel any differently about this than any other,'' said cornerback Cris Dishman, who has some experience in a rivalry with Dallas, having spent a lot of years in Houston. ``Anytime you play the Cowboys - America's team, quote, unquote - it's different. But do I sense anything different here than for any other game thus far? No.''

Others echoed Dishman's feelings. Quarterback Gus Frerotte fumbled for an answer when asked about the rivalry, before finally blurting, ``It's a great rivalry and always has been. It's up to us to keep it going.''

Yeah, that'll fan the flames.

Truth is, it didn't feel like Dallas Week around Redskin Park this week. Neither did it in phone calls to Cowboys coach Barry Switzer and running back Emmitt Smith.

Maybe that's because both teams are struggling at 3-2 after disappointing division losses last week. Maybe that's because it's so early in the season and there's such a long time for the loser to make amends. Maybe this is another victim of free agency. Every team in the NFL has a hated rival. Players who've come to Dallas and Washington from elsewhere likely still think of those original rivalries first. Dishman, for example, despises the Steelers.

And maybe it's because the Redskins really haven't been very competitive in the NFC East in recent years. Washington hasn't been to the playoffs since 1992. No win or loss to the Cowboys since then has had much of an impact on their fortunes.

Then there's the Norv Factor. The Cowboys hated George Allen. The Redskins mocked Tom Landry. The Cowboys respected and feared Joe Gibbs. The Redskins felt the same about Jimmy Johnson. The Cowboys adore Redskins coach Norv Turner, the ex-Cowboys assistant coach who meshed Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irving into a cohesive offensive machine.

The Redskins can't muster even a good miff over Switzer, though maybe it shouldn't be that hard. Remember, he's the only Dallas coach ever to leave the field during a Redskins game because he had to go to the bathroom. Did it two years ago at RFK. That should count for something.

``There was a tremendous rivalry that was here before I started playing - and that rivalry belongs to the fans,'' cornerback Darrell Green said. ``It doesn't go in and out with Joe Gibbs or Norv Turner. It doesn't go in and out with Darrell Green.

``It's the fans who appreciate the camaraderie and the competition that has been displayed on the field each year. I just hope that we can continue to keep it in such a way that it's exciting for the game, exciting for our community.''

Dallas and Washington will renew the ``camaraderie'' tonight in a new community, on which Jack Kent Cooke Stadium sits. There will be an all-time largest crowd in attendance, as many as 80,000, and the noise they make will be the equivalent of a dozen Elton John concerts combined.

Truth is, this may be the year the rivalry is rekindled. The Cowboys and Redskins are about equal in ability, though Dallas has the marquee names, Washington the lunch-bucket bunch. The winner takes sole possession of first place in the NFC East and perhaps gains some momentum to take into the center portion of the schedule.

For 34 members of the Redskins, tonight marks their first MNF appearance. If there's a time outside the playoffs when NFL players will themselves into hyper-geek, it's for Monday night games.

Turner spent the early portion of last week instilling some fire into his team, reminding them that this was their first national exposure on Monday night since 1993.

``Every one of these guys who hasn't played in it yet has grown up watching it,'' Turner said. ``You've got the same group of announcers, you've got Hank Williams Jr. singing the introduction. It's exciting.''

As usual, there are subplots galore for the game. The biggest may involve Ken Harvey of Washington and Emmitt Smith of Dallas. Ever since they arrived with their teams, they've been the best players on the squads. But both are struggling this year, and neither understands why.

Smith's well-documented problems have mostly been in the red zone, where Dallas has yet to score a touchdown this season. Smith hasn't scored a single point all year and last week was replaced on the second series of downs by backup Sherman Williams.

Last Thursday, Switzer said he thought Smith had lost a step because of age and injuries. Smith angrily rebuked that claim.

Harvey has been the lone bright spot on outrageously bad Washington defenses the last couple of years. He's been among the leaders in tackles and sacks and he's been rewarded with trips to the Pro Bowl.

This season, however, he has no sacks and is sixth on the team in tackles. Redskins coaches say it's no big deal, that Harvey is playing as well as ever, and that they're not worried. Harvey isn't buying it.

``I know next winter they're not going to look at hurries,'' Harvey said, referring to his status as a free agent at the end of the season. ``They won't remember me forcing plays to the inside.

``This game is important, more because it's Dallas than because it's Monday night. But it's also the game in which I'm going to turn things around.''

Without tackle Sean Gilbert, Harvey is Washington's most accomplished pass-rusher. He's been double-teamed more than ever this season, and still has responded with 11 ``hurries,'' tops on the team.

``We're not getting as much push inside as we did a year ago,'' Turner said. Opponents ``know Ken's our prime pass-rusher. They're going to pay attention to him. He's getting double-teamed.''

Harvey doesn't care for the alibis.

``I've never gone this long without a sack before,'' he said. ``It's driving me crazy. I know it's still early, but it's frustrating. I watch the films and wonder what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I'm not taking off as quickly as I should. Maybe I'm spending too much time faking. I'm working to correct those things.''

Harvey has always played an important role in Redskins-Cowboys games. In the last three years, he's twice forced Aikman off the field with injuries, the kind of plays that win games. And enflame rivalries. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS/File photo

Emmitt Smith scores over Redskins' Leomont Evans last year in Dallas

where Cowboys won 21-10.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu