Giants try not to look ahead to Super Bowl

It's impossible not to realize what's on the other side of this game. The trip to Indianapolis. The chance to play for the trophy and the rings. The game every football player dreams about.

For many Giants, the trick will be ignoring all of that.

"We're going out there to win a football game," defensive tackle Chris Canty said. "We're going out there to beat the San Francisco 49ers. Nothing more, nothing less."

Of course, there is a lot more. This isn't just a game, it's a mad scramble for a ticket to the ultimate contest. On Sunday, one team will get T-shirts and hats, be covered in confetti and handed a trophy. The other will watch Feb. 5 from their couches.

It's not just another game. Resistance is futile.

"You think about it," said safety Antrel Rolle, who won the NFC title game three years ago as a Cardinal. "That's what keeps you driving. But at the same time you have to focus on one game at a time, one play at a time. I think that's going to be our only focus going into this game."

Canty said he'll be blocking out the hoopla and excitement. "You can call the game whatever you want,'' he said, refusing even to acknowledge it is called the NFC Championship Game.

Canty is no dummy. He knows. And he's spoken of what this opportunity means, having never won a playoff game in his seven-year career before this month. He's just ignoring it.

"You have to," Canty said when asked how difficult that is to do. "If you're a professional, that's what you have to do. There is a lot of stuff on the periphery that you have to block out. And you have to focus on your job and being able to execute, because mistakes at this point will cost you dearly."

It seems as if veterans like Rolle and Canty are the ones who distance themselves from the shining glow at the other end of the rainbow. The younger players are more eager to embrace the possibilities.

"It's good to look ahead, it's good to understand what we're playing for," Victor Cruz said. "But we have to understand the task at hand and what bridge we have to cross in order to make it to our ultimate goal. San Francisco is that bridge right now."

Michael Boley said he doesn't think the younger players fully grasp what is going on.

"The older guys, we know," Boley said. "This is only my second time being in the playoffs in seven years, so it's very hard to come by. I think just a lot of these veterans are trying to put that in the back of young guys' heads. 'Take advantage of it.' "

Rolle politely declined to answer questions about what it feels like to go to a Super Bowl, and Canty snapped when asked a similar question ("You're way premature, buddy!"). But Hakeem Nicks spoke openly of his desires. "I knew it was always a dream that I wanted to do: to play in the Super Bowl," he said.

But even he knows they're not there yet. "We can't look past this 49ers team," Nicks said. "We've got to take this week and once we get past this week, then we'll look toward that."