As the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers prepare to meet tomorrow, folks in both locker rooms might be saying, "Remember the Rams."
And the twist is that the rallying cry means opposite things to each team.
For the Cowboys, their game against St. Louis marks the low point of this season, a 20-point loss that wasn't even that close in a game they were expected to win. Thus, the reminder is all about staying humble.
Strange as that might seem for a club that hasn't won consecutive games since September, Dallas is ripe for an inflated ego.
The 6-4 Cowboys are coming off a victory at Washington that kept them alive in the NFC wild-card race and could send them into December on quite a roll. All they have to do is beat 3-7 San Francisco tomorrow, then 2-8 Seattle (2-8) on Thanksgiving Day, both at home.
But Dallas coach Wade Phillips is warning the players that the Rams squad that handled the Cowboys so handily fell to the 49ers last Sunday, 35-16.
Beating St. Louis was huge for the 49ers. It was their first victory under interim coach Mike Singletary and the throttling performance came a week after they'd blown a late lead over Arizona.
A win might mean a lot to Singletary, too. He grew up in Houston and went to college at Baylor, about an hour and a half away. His coach there, Grant Teaff, remains a mentor and close friend and will be in the stands watching for the first time since Singletary took over. Plus, Singletary interviewed for the Dallas job before last season, when Phillips ended up getting it.
