This could be Jacobs' last shot at Cowboys

There are few things that get Brandon Jacobs as fired up as seeing a star on a football helmet. He's had some of his most emotional -- and productive -- games against the Cowboys. He's always been one to add to the verbal trash-talking that precedes the contests and he's generally unavoidable for postgame remarks.

"Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants lingers year in and year out," Jacobs said of the bad feelings that go both ways between the division rivals.

He might have to make this one linger for even longer. If, as many expect and even he has alluded to this season, he is not a member of the Giants next year, this could be the final Giants-Cowboys game of his career.

That's a topic he did not want to discuss much Thursday "because that's not important." He's more focused on what a win would mean, namely a division title and a return to the playoffs. But clearly Jacobs recognizes that his days of frothing over the Cowboys are coming to an end, either this year or next, when his contract expires.

"Whatever happens happens," he said. "I got a plan of my own, though. Trust me. I have a plan of my own. It won't be regretted."

Jacobs would not disclose his plan, but he did say it will be unveiled Sunday. Clearly he has some fireworks in mind. "Everybody's going to know what it is," he said.

He ran for two touchdowns against Dallas three weeks ago, giving him the franchise record for rushing TDs. On the first one, which tied Tiki Barber's mark, he sprinted to the Cowboys logo painted in the end zone and performed a dance right on the star. He did not emulate it on his second TD, but the satisfaction of scoring the winning points in the final minute presumably was enough.

It's been long assumed that Jacobs hates the Cowboys, but he said it's the team's fans whom he despises. "We don't really pay attention to the America's Team stuff," he said. "The reason that a lot of guys on opposing teams hate the Cowboys is their fans. So many of their fans are loud and obnoxious. Everywhere you go, you got some Dallas fans and they're just running their mouth . . . It's not really the team and the star and all that because they're just like any other team in the National Football League that way, but their fans are the ones who have me feeling the way I feel. That's my issue."

Whatever he intends to do Sunday, it undoubtedly will fire up his teammates. The Giants have had plenty of occasions this season when they played flat and uninspired. Jacobs' biggest job Sunday might not be running for touchdowns but getting his teammates as jacked up to face the Cowboys as he will be.

"I think they always [get a lift] from his energy," Tom Coughlin said. "He's not one to deny any verbiage that he thinks will help, but he's gone out and backed it up, too. You have to give him credit for that, I think more by example than anything else."

Jacobs is due a $500,000 roster bonus in March, which is when the Giants will have to decide if they want to keep him and pay him the $4.4 million he is due in 2012. He'll turn 30 in July, but he's been effective the last month of the season. Three of his four highest yards-per-carry games of the season have come in the last four, including the 101-yard game against Dallas.

Jacobs said he knows his role as pregame cheerleader is significant. He's been told that by current and former teammates.

"Do something spectacular to get this team on their feet and get guys the spark in them and get the fans up," he said. "That's always my goal."

This could be his last shot. "I'll be trying to get in the end zone a couple of times this week as well," he said. "Whatever I have to do to help this team win and get to the next level, that's it."