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During a podcast with NFL Network's Rich Eisen scheduled to air Thursday, The Triplets -- Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin -- talked about the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Super Bowl title, the first for Jerry Jones, and various other subjects.

Smith, the Hall of Famer and NFL's career leading rusher with 18,355 yards, likes the Cowboys' running backs but made some interesting comments about backup Felix Jones.

"And then when you look at the running back corps, they have two good guys – very good guys – and either one of them can shoulder the load and shoulder the burden at any point in time," Smith said. "We need Felix Jones to step up because we know DeMarco Murray can make it happen. We need Felix to step up a little bit – that’s a true statement."

Now, let's repeat, Smith said the Cowboys, "have two good guys, very good guys" as running backs. Yet his comments about Jones are worth looking into.

When you look back on that 2008 draft, we can think about at least five running backs selected after Jones who have produced better numbers. Jones has rushed for 2,326 yards on 458 carries. He's got only eight rushing touchdowns. By the way the five backs we thought about were Rashard Mendenhall, Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Ray Rice and Jamaal Charles. When the Cowboys drafted Jones, it was mainly to back up Marion Barber.

But do you really waste a first-round pick on a backup?

Jones is a terrific running back, someone who can make defenders miss in space. He doesn't have the speed of, say, Johnson, but he's a running back who is hard to chase down at times.

The Cowboys have always described Jones as a complementary back and with good reason. He backed up Barber since he came into the NFL and when given the chance to become the full-time starter last season, he lost the gig to DeMarco Murray due to injury.

Jones has played 16 games in a season only once in his career.

Yes, running back is a tough position and few teams go with just one back, but Jones' durability is something that has been an issue for him throughout his career.

And as he enters the final year of his contract, you begin to wonder if he'll get a second deal with the Cowboys.

FRISCO, Texas – The '90s Cowboys, headlined by the Triplets, had plenty of glitz and glamour. But grit was a key ingredient in those Dallas teams developing into one of the best dynasties in NFL history.

That’s how the 1992 Cowboys remembered that team during a 20-year reunion for that Super Bowl title team, an event organized by Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith to benefit his children’s charity.

“Very talented of course, but it was a bunch of hard-working individuals,” said Russell Maryland, a No. 1 overall pick out of Miami who was part of a deep defensive line rotation. “We really came together for that purpose of winning football games.”

Smith, quarterback Troy Aikman and receiver Michael Irvin, the poster boys on those teams, already have busts in Canton. Defensive end Charles Haley probably will soon, and there are other Hall of Fame candidates from that roster.

But talent didn’t define that dynasty, the old Cowboys say.

“We had really, really good players, and in ’92 a lot of those guys were year four to six, kind of right in your prime,” former Pro Bowl fullback Daryl “Moose” Johnston said. “But to me, what made the team unique was the chemistry and camaraderie. A lot of people talk about the football team being your second family and you create a lot of analogies like that, but it’s really hard to actually create that feeling, that chemistry in the locker room. Jimmy and his staff did a really good job with that. …

“I just think that when we got into tough times, we knew each other so well, we had each other’s backs. We had a tremendous amount of respect for each other. It’s hard to create that. I think that if you were to go back and talk to players from the 49ers from the ‘80s, Steelers from the ‘70s, Packers from the ‘60s, you’ll find a lot of the same things that we talk about with our ’92 team.”

FLOWER MOUND, Texas – The Cowboys said their goodbyes to their former special teams coach, Joe Avezzano, who passed away from a heart attack April 5 in Milan, Italy.

Among those in attendance at Tuesday's service were owner and general manager Jerry Jones, Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith and Jason Garrett, Norv Turner, Jackie Sherrill and R.C. Slocum. Players from all of the Cowboys’ eras showed up, including Preston Pearson, Bill Bates, Russell Maryland, Darren Woodson, Dexter Coakley and Randal Williams.

Current Cowboys assistants Joe DeCamillis, Skip Peete and Chris Boniol, who also played for Avezzano, were in attendance. Former Cowboys assistants Robert Ford and Tony Wise were also on hand, as were any behind-the-scenes co-workers.

A crowd of roughly 200 attended the hour-long ceremony at Trietsch United Methodist Church and were treated to moving eulogies from Brad Sham, the radio voice of the Cowboys, and Avezzano’s son, Tony.

Avezzano, 68, died while working out on a treadmill. He had been in Italy coaching the Milan Seamen of the Italian Football League.

He helped the Cowboys to three Super Bowl wins in the 1990s, staying with the team from 1990-2002. He became the first coach of the Dallas Desperados of the Arena Football League before returning to the NFL with Turner in Oakland.

Former Dallas Cowboys running back Marion Barber ended his career Friday when he announced his retirement from the NFL at age 28.

It was classic Barber: No news conference, just a statement through his team -- the Chicago Bears.

For a few years, Barber was a force with the Cowboys, who gave him a seven-year, $45 million contract in 2008. At the time, it was deemed the right move because the franchise was moving on from Julius Jones.

Then, Barber started to break down.

His bruising style began to catch up to him. He never lost his starting job but it was clear that he wasn't the same despite leading the team in rushing for three consecutive seasons (2007-09).

Routine 5-yard runs turned into 2-yard runs. He didn't have the same explosviness as in years past. Thigh, toe and knee issues cost him games and his ability to run people over.

His teammates loved his style and that he gave up so much of his body.

But after six seasons and 4,358 rushing yards, sixth-most in franchise history, it was just time for the Cowboys to move on. Felix Jones took over this season and now he's been replaced by DeMarco Murray as the starting running back.

For as much as people want to replace Tony Romo around here (I find the talk silly), looking for Emmitt Smith's replacement seems harder to do more than anything else.

There is a long list of starters the Cowboys have employed to replace the all-time rushing leader, and it will grow again in 2012. Barber was supposed to be one of those players, but it didn't end that way.

The Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki finds himself back in the finals.

With your votes, the NBA Finals MVP and No. 6 seed has made his way past "Mr. Cowboy" Bob Lilly (82 percent to 18 percent), Tom Landry (51-49) and finally top-seeded Roger Staubach (57-43) to reach the final of our Metroplex Most Beloved bracket.

Dirk will face off against Emmitt Smith, who won by the slimmest of margins against fellow "Triplet" member Troy Aikman.

Smith, the No. 2 seed, cruised by Mark Cuban and Mike Modano before edging Aikman by a mere 101 votes (7,192-7,091).

Polls remain open until Monday night, when we'll reveal the champion.

Choose wisely by voting here through Monday, and join the discussion afterward.

Could one championship lead to another for the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki?

With your votes, the NBA Finals MVP is marching through our Metroplex Most Beloved bracket. In the first round, sixth-seeded Dirk crushed "Mr. Cowboy" Bob Lilly, a 10 seed, by an 82 percent-to-18 percent margin.

The momentum carried into the semifinals, where Nowitzki stunned legendary Cowboys coach Tom Landry -- the No. 4 seed -- by a mere 119 total votes out of almost 11,000 votes cast.

And now he finds himself in our Final Four against yet another Cowboys icon -- top-seeded Roger Staubach. Polls remain open until Thursday at midnight, when we'll reveal our championship matchup.

The other semifinal boast two-thirds of the Cowboys' famed "Triplets" -- with quarterback Troy Aikman, the third seed, squaring off against running back Emmitt Smith, the No. 2 seed.

Choose wisely by voting here through Thursday. And join the discussion afterward.

Who advanced and who didn't?

Sometimes, love hurts. And while some of your favorites -- Pudge Rodriguez, Michael Young, Mark Cuban, Jimmy Johnson, Ron Washington, Bob Lilly, Jason Witten and Josh Hamilton -- didn't make the cut, take a look at who's left!

Your voting determined our Enamored Eight, and now you have until Sunday to vote and decide who advances to the Fantastic Four of our Metroplex Most Beloved sports figure bracket.

It's much harder this time around. The matchups:

* No. 1 seed Roger Staubach vs. No. 9 Michael Irvin
* No. 4 Tom Landry vs. No. 5 Dirk Nowitzki
* No. 2 Emmitt Smith vs. No. 7 Mike Modano
* No. 3 Troy Aikman vs. No. 6 Nolan Ryan.

Choose wisely by voting here through Sunday. And join the discussion afterward.

Who do you love? Where do your allegiances lie? We're giving you the ultimate forum to prove it.

Welcome to Bracket Madness, where we'll let you decide the Metroplex's most beloved sports personality -- past or present.

The Cowboys are well represented -- with top-seed Roger Staubach, No. 2 Emmitt Smith, No. 3 Troy Aikman, No. 4 Tom Landry, No. 9 Michael Irvin, No. 12 Bob Lilly, No. 13 Jimmy Johnson and No. 16 Jason Witten -- but can they navigate their way through our Sweet 16 to the finals?

Vote here, and join the conversation to defend your picks here.

IRVING, Texas -- Cowboys coach Jason Garrett opened his introductions of new offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Bill Callahan and secondary coach Jerome Henderson with an homage to the man Callahan is replacing, Hudson Houck.

After 29 years in the NFL and two stints with the Cowboys Houck, who turned 69 on Jan. 7, elected to retire.

“He is as good an offensive line coach that this league has ever seen,” Garrett said.

Garrett went on to cite Houck’s time at Southern Cal where he coached linemen like Jackie Slater and Anthony Munoz and designed running games that helped Charlie White and Marcus Allen win Heisman Trophies. With the Los Angeles Rams, Houck coached Slater and saw Erick Dickerson dominate the league in rushing.

His first stint with the Cowboys coincided with Emmitt Smith’s push to become the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. In San Diego, Houck was the line coach when LaDainian Tomlinson was building a Hall of Fame career.

“He’s a rare guy, a rare person who made a tremendous impact on players through the years, on a lot of fellow coaches through the years and just a real class guy and a guy who makes me as a coach feel proud to be in the same profession,” Garrett said. “I learned an immense amount from him when I was playing and had the good fortune of coaching with him on the same staff. Really an unbelievable guy.”

IRVING, Texas -- Tony Romo is well aware of Emmitt Smith wondering whether the Cowboys have the mental toughness required to win a road game of this magnitude and points to a pair of victories as proof that they are.

Those victories: road comebacks over the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins earlier this season.

“This football team just has a way of keep coming back and keep grinding,” Romo said. “Obviously, it comes down to a game like this. That’s why you play sports.”

Granted, neither of those were win-or-go home games with the type of hype and scrutiny that comes with an NFC East title game against the New York Giants. But they both had a gotta-have-it feel for the Cowboys.

The comeback in San Francisco is an especially interesting example, although nobody knew at the time that the 49ers were one of the NFC’s top teams. Romo returned from a fractured rib and punctured lung suffered in the first half to lead a rally from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to allow the Cowboys to win in overtime.

That came on the heels of a catastrophic ending in the season opener, when two Romo turnovers played a major role in the Cowboys blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead in a loss to the New York Jets. Coming off of last season’s awful start, the Cowboys couldn’t afford to dig an 0-2 hole.

“It felt like a must-win at that time, and we went out there and laid it on the line and the team won and we were trailing late in that game,” said Romo, who completed 12 of 15 passes for 201 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter and overtime period at Candlestick Park. “So there was a lot of mental toughness in that game.”

Regardless of Emmitt’s doubts, Romo expects the Cowboys to show a lot of mental toughness again with the season on the line in the Meadowlands.

Emmitt Smith still bleeds Cowboys silver and blue, but the NFL's all-time leading rusher is not sure his former team is mentally tough enough to go to MetLife Stadium on Sunday to beat the New York Giants in a game to decide the NFC East champion.

"Talent-wise, I think they have it," Smith said in an ESPN interview. "Leadership-wise, they have some good leaders on the ballclub. Do they have enough? Probably not. Can they go up to New York and be mentally tough in this situation? I think Jason [Garrett] has done a very good job of preparing the guys to be physically and hopefully mentally tough, but I think mental toughness is the thing needed in games like this.

"Mental toughness for four quarters or five quarters, if you have to go that far. But that's something our Cowboys have not been able to do in close games. And that's where mental toughness comes into play.

"Unfortunately for us we've lost four games this year in the fourth quarter -- four points or less. And so that in itself is something we definitely need to get corrected in the short period of time to make that happen up in New York."

For more, click here.

IRVING, Texas -- If you regularly come back to the thought that, 'Man, the Cowboys sure come up with some inventive ways to lose games,' you're right.

Since 2005, I have come up with 13 head-scratching losses that seem to define this franchise. And that does not include the humiliating 44-6 defeat at Philadelphia to close the 2008 season, which knocked the Cowboys out of a playoff spot.

Three of those losses have come this year. Three came last year. Two each in ’09, ’08 and ’06, and the one that kicked it off came on Sept. 19, 2005 (against Washington), when the Triplets – Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith - were inducted into the Ring of Honor.

It has been quite a roller-coaster ride, but without the fun part.

Sept. 19, 2005 – Washington, 14-13.

The Cowboys lead, 13-0, with 6:01 to play, and the 65,207 in attendance, the largest crowd at Texas Stadium at the time following the 1985 renovations, was enjoying the moment. The Triplets were inducted into the Ring of Honor. The defense was dominating.

Then Santana Moss happened.

Moss caught touchdown passes of 39 and 70 yards in the final 3:46, bringing to light Roy Williams’ deficiencies in coverage. The second touchdown came with 2:35 to play. Oh, by the way, the Cowboys missed the playoffs by a game that year.

Nov. 5, 2006 – Washington, 22-19

Tony Romo’s second start was about to end with a fourth-quarter drive for a game-winning field goal, but Troy Vincent blocked Mike Vanderjagt’s 35-yard try. Sean Taylor scooped up the loose ball and returned it 30 yards. Another 15 yards was added because of a Kyle Kosier facemask penalty.

With no time on the clock, Nick Novak kicked a 47-yarder to beat the Cowboys.

Jan. 6, 2007 – Seattle, 21-20

This one was the most heartbreaking because it was in the wild-card round of the playoffs. It was also Bill Parcells’ final game as a head coach. The Cowboys maintain to this day that had they won that game, they could have gone to the Super Bowl.

Instead L.P. LaDouceur’s snap for a 19-yard field goal try slipped through Romo’s hands. Conspiracy theorists point to the slippery "K-ball" that was put in play before the snap. Others point to a Jason Witten first down that was overturned by the replay official, which negated the possibility to run the clock out or score a touchdown.

Oct. 12, 2008 – Arizona, 30-24 (OT)

The Cowboys somehow tied this game at the end of regulation on a 52-yard field goal by Nick Folk, but on the opening series of overtime, they lost Tony Romo to a broken pinky finger and punter Mat McBriar to a broken foot. On the play in which McBriar broke his foot, Sean Morey blocked his punt and Monty Beisel fell on the ball for a touchdown. The game started with a special teams touchdown (a 93-yard kick return) for the Cardinals, and ended with one.

Dec. 20, 2008 – Baltimore, 33-24

In what was a struggle for the offense for most of the game, twice the Cowboys pulled to within two points of the Ravens. Terrell Owens made the score 19-17 by scoring with 3:50 to play. Baltimore answered with a 77-yard touchdown run by Willis McGahee. Jason Witten cut the gap again with a TD grab with 1:36 to play. Le'Ron McClain answered with an 80-yard touchdown run.

It was not the way Jerry Jones wanted to see Texas Stadium close.

Sept. 20, 2009 – NY Giants, 33-31

If Jones didn’t want to see Texas Stadium close that way, he didn’t want to see Cowboys Stadium open this way. Felix Jones gave the Cowboys a 31-30 lead with a touchdown run with 3:40 to play.

Then Eli Manning happened.

Manning completed 7-of-9 passes for 64 yards, helping the Giants overcome a 1st-and-20 situation from their 15 and leading to a 37-yard game-winning field goal by Lawrence Tynes with no time left.

Oct. 4, 2009 – Denver, 17-10

The Cowboys blew a 10-0 lead when Broncos wide receiver caught a 51-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Orton with 1:46 to play. However, Romo had the Cowboys in position to tie the game after a 53-yard completion to Sam Hurd.

At the Denver 2-yard line with nine seconds to play, Romo went to Hurd (unsuccessfully) on back-to-back plays while the wideout was defended by Pro Bowler Champ Bailey.

Cowboys Pro Bowler Jason Witten did not even run a route.

Sept. 12, 2010 – Washington, 13-7

The Cowboys dominated defensively, but were done in by Jason Garrett’s decision to call a play with four seconds left in the first half and a mile away from the Redskins’ end zone. Romo flipped the ball to Tashard Choice, who fumbled while fighting for extra yards. Cornerback DeAngelo Hall scooped up the loose ball and ran it back for a 32-yard touchdown. It was the Redskins' only touchdown of the game.

In position to win the game, Alex Barron happened.

With three seconds left, Romo hit Roy Williams for an apparent game-tying touchdown with the point-after attempt being the difference in a win. Not so fast. Barron, starting in place of an injured Marc Colombo, was called for holding Brian Orakpo on the touchdown pass, wiping out the comeback.

Nov. 25, 2010 – New Orleans, 30-27

The Cowboys were not in the playoff chase, but they were fighting under Garrett, who took over for Wade Phillips as the interim coach. They led 27-23 and were in position to salt the game away as Roy Williams raced down the field toward the Saints end zone. As he switched the ball to his left hand away from a New Orleans defender, he allowed Michael Jenkins to strip it away for the turnover.

Five plays and 89 yards later, Drew Brees hit Lance Moore with the game-winning touchdown pass.

Dec. 25, 2010 – Arizona, 27-26

Stephen McGee was shaping up as the hero, filling in for an injured Jon Kitna. He hit Miles Austin with a 37-yard touchdown pass with 1:41 to play to give the Cowboys the lead. Unfortunately David Buehler missed the PAT, giving Arizona hope.

John Skelton converted a 4th-and-15 with a 26-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald, and Jay Feely won the game with a 48-yard field goal.

Sept. 11, 2011 – NY Jets, 27-24

The Cowboys led, 24-10, two plays into the fourth quarter following a Felix Jones touchdown. They were in position to answer a Jets touchdown with at least a field goal when Romo fumbled while diving to the New York goal line for his first of two fourth-quarter turnovers.

On the Cowboys’ next series, Joe McKnight blocked McBriar’s punt and Isaiah Trufant returned it 18 yards for the tying touchdown.

Late in regulation, Romo was intercepted by Darrelle Revis on a poor throw to Dez Bryant. That was turned into a game-winning field goal by former Cowboy Nick Folk.

Dec. 4, 2011 – Arizona, 19-13 (OT)

Sensing a trend with Arizona here?

Tied at 13-13, Romo put the Cowboys in position to win the game with another Dan Bailey field goal. His 15-yard completion to Bryant had the Cowboys at the Cardinals' 31-yard line. Yet with two timeouts and roughly 25 seconds to go, the Cowboys did not stop the clock until Romo spiked the ball with seven seconds to play.

As Bailey lined up for the game-winner, Garrett called a timeout because the play clock was running out. Bailey’s second attempt fell short, and in overtime the Cowboys would never get the ball.

LaRod Stephens-Howling raced 52 yards on a short flip from Kevin Kolb for the game-winner.

Dec. 11, 2011 – NY Giants, 37-34

Bryant’s 50-yard touchdown pass gave the Cowboys a 34-22 lead with 5:41 to play. All seemed well with the world.

Then Eli Manning happened. Again.

He shredded the Dallas defense on an eight-play, 80-yard drive that ended in a Jake Ballard touchdown catch and then directed New York on a six-play, 56-yard drive that ended in a Brandon Jacobs touchdown. The subsequent two-point conversion gave the Giants a three-point cushion.

During the second drive, Garrett let crucial seconds go off the clock again by failing to call a timeout until 1:00 remained.

Despite all that, two Romo-to-Miles Austin completions had the Cowboys at the New York 29-yard line with six seconds to play.

Before Bailey went in for the game-tying 47-yard try, Giants coach Tom Coughlin called a timeout, negating what turned out to be a good kick. Bailey’s second attempt wasn't close to going through the uprights.

Defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul pushed between LaDouceur and Montrae Holland and deflected Bailey’s kick.

DeMarco Murray moved through the Cowboys’ locker room on crutches, a protective boot on his fractured right ankle and the hood from his sweatshirt over his head. He avoided eye contact with anybody en route the passenger seat of his sports car, which was parked right outside the locker room.

After a night to come to grips with his season-ending injury, Murray made his first public comments via Twitter.

“God is too good! Minor setback but guarantee I'll be back a better football player! Love my teammates and #cowboynation! Thanks for support!!” Murray tweeted.

Murray’s season ended with 897 yards on 164 carries. Tony Dorsett, Calvin Hill and Emmitt Smith are the only Cowboys to rush for more yards as rookies.

This is the third time in five years that an injury has prematurely ended Murray’s season. He dislocated his kneecap as a freshman at Oklahoma in 2007 and ruptured his hamstring tendon in 2008, leading to concerns about his durability that caused him to drop to the third round in the draft.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Sunday's first half was a dream half for the Dallas Cowboys, who strafed the Buffalo Bills for 317 yards, held the ball for 18 of 30 minutes and did every single thing they wanted to do on both sides of the ball. But the modern sports fan greets good fortune with suspicion, and so the one thing everybody here kept muttering as the game went to halftime was, "This feels like the Detroit game."

It wasn't, of course. This would turn out to be the Buffalo game, and a dominating 44-7 victory for the Cowboys, who are back over .500 for the first time since that ugly Week 4 collapse and loss to the Lions. And the main reason the Buffalo game was not a repeat is a rookie running back who got four carries in the Detroit game. On Sunday, DeMarco Murray ran for 135 yards on 20 carries and put the game on ice in thunderous fashion.

"He's destroying, man," Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant said of Murray, who has 601 rushing yards in the past four games since Felix Jones went down with an ankle injury. "He's just unstoppable right now. And it's not surprising to me. I've seen it in practice. I've seen it in college. There's no rival."

"He is, and should be, inspirational," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "We have to feel good about what he is doing for the offensive line. I used to say that, as much as we thought of our offensive line when Emmitt [Smith] was here, it was also Emmitt making our offensive line."

Murray's emergence has come at a beneficial time for the Cowboys, who are positioned to make a strong run at the first-place New York Giants in the NFC East. Dallas is now 5-4 in spite of all of the injuries and all of the missed opportunities of the first half of the season. Their next three games are against the Redskins, Dolphins and Cardinals, who have a combined record of 8-19. If they could beat all three of those weak opponents, they would go into their Dec. 11 game against the Giants with an 8-4 record and a real chance to control their playoff hopes.

"I think the great teams get going right about now," Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said. "We need to start stacking up those wins. It's that time of year."

To that end, it's nice that Murray has come along to unlock a fresh and thrilling new dimension to their offense. He runs with power and determination. He absorbs hits and breaks tackles. He is the essence of tough, which is an element the run game lacked earlier this season with Jones running behind a work-in-progress offensive line.

"When you can run the ball into eight-man fronts and have success like he's having, it puts a dent in the defense," Witten said. "And it puts a smile on your face, because you know the defense is going to have a tough time."

Murray is dishing out punishment, and the big question everybody's asking around here is whether there's any chance he loses the "starting" running back job to Jones once Jones is ready to return from his injury. Cowboys coach Jason Garrett won't commit to an answer, mainly because (a) it doesn't really matter who "starts" if Murray's going to get the larger share of the carries and (b) the point is that Jones' return would only increase the number of offensive weapons available to the Cowboys on a given play. Which is a good thing.

"I think, when you break the huddle and you can do different things well with different people, that's a good thing for your offense," Garrett said. "I think today was a pretty good example of that. They wanted to defend the run early, we were able to throw the football, then we were able to run when it came to the run."

The way it's supposed to work. And for the Cowboys, the way it's working now that Murray is in the mix. Sunday's Cowboys offense was an offense that clicked in every conceivable way, and as good and sharp as Tony Romo was even with wide receiver Miles Austin out with a hamstring injury, the key may have been Murray. He's the thing about the offense that's different from earlier in the year, and if things are changing for the better at just the right time, he's a huge reason why.

"When you get on a roll as an offense, when you can pick up big yards on first down like we did today, there's just a lot of possibilities," Murray said. "This team has just been getting better all year, and I think we can keep it going."

Especially against the schedule they play over the next three weeks, they have to believe they have that chance. Sunday established the formula, and it's based on keeping the ball as much as possible and gaining big chunks of yardage in a variety of ways.

"We've talked about that -- how we wanted to get back to the time of possession and staying in control of the game as an offense," Witten said. "And the fact that we can be as explosive as we were today, even with a guy like Miles down, that's good for all of us."

The explosiveness is good. So is the timing. And for both of those, the Cowboys can thank DeMarco Murray, who appears to have shown up just in time.

Move over, Emmitt Smith. There's a new Florida rushing champ.

Glades Day (Belle Glade, Fla.) junior running back Kelvin Taylor ran for 388 yards on 34 carries in a 43-29 win over South Fork (Stuart, Fla.) on Friday night to move into first place on the Florida career rushing list with 8,975 yards. The previous mark of 8,804 yards was held since 1986 by Smith, who played for Escambia (Pensacola, Fla.).

Taylor is also just 2,258 yards from breaking the national record of 11,232 yards set by Ken Hall of Sugar Land (Texas) in 1953.

Taylor, the son of former NFL star running back Fred Taylor, ran for six touchdowns against South Fork to push his Florida-record total to 141. He'll have a chance to add to both Florida marks when Glades Day opens the Class 2A playoffs next week against Champagnat Catholic (Hialeah, Fla.).