Pace fired up for Jets' season opener

Calvin Pace's face lit up as he thought about it, understanding the time finally has arrived.

With a national television audience peering in and a supercharged atmosphere expected at MetLife Stadium, the Jets will host the Cowboys Sunday night. Pace seemed to be in a state of childlike excitement thinking about the Jets making their regular-season debut in prime time for the second consecutive season.

"The last two years, we've kind of been the big ticket,'' the linebacker said. "I think it's a role that we all embrace, knowing that it's always prime time with us. So, I know it's going to be electric in there. I know the fans are going to be ready to go and know the Cowboys fans are going to be in there pretty thick, too."

It's sure to be an emotionally draining game with everything surrounding it. There will be a host of Sept. 11 tributes, including elaborate ceremonies. Rex Ryan's twin, Rob, is going to be on the opposing sideline, in his first game as the Cowboys' defensive coordinator -- with Buddy Ryan, their 77-year-old father and architect of the famed "46 defense" watching inside the stadium as he awaits cancer surgery this week.

Rex Ryan also said he feels more pressure to win this game than any other he's ever coached in, mostly because of the Sept. 11 aspect. Still, the players are relishing their latest shot at appearing before a national audience.

"Whenever you get an opportunity to be the premier team, you are always excited," linebacker Bart Scott said. "But you've got to keep it in perspective. You can't get too jacked up because first of all, it burns you out. You have to maintain your level. You can't get too hyped too early because it's a four-quarter game. You have to go out and put it all on the field."

Ryan thinks they will.

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"We feel healthy, we feel strong," said Ryan, entering his third season as head coach. "We're ready to go. Our guys are flying around right now."

Santonio Holmes wasn't doing his trademark "Flight Men" routine all week, extending his arms and running around as if he's a Boeing 777. But the wide receiver who signed a five-year, $50 million deal this past offseason to return to the Jets seemed as if he were about to bust through his skin anticipating the opener.

"Super excited about the season starting," Holmes said. "Everything is behind us now, the preseason is over. There's no more playing around. Everything is serious. Going from here we have to be ready to come out firing on all cylinders."

Holmes is one of the Jets' offensive captains, leading a new collection of wide receivers that includes Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason along with promising rookie Jeremy Kerley. Third-year quarterback Mark Sanchez didn't get the luxury of having a lot of field time with all three veterans during preseason games, because Burress was nursing an ankle injury early on and Mason was sitting out for precautionary purposes with a knee injury.

However, Mason, who is entering his 15th season, said he is confident the Jets' new top contingent of receivers can get their cohesion going early on in the season.

"Yeah, because we have a lot of guys that have played a lot of football that have won a lot of big games," Mason said, adding they know how to play come crunch time.

The Jets will see if that's indeed the case beginning Sunday night, knowing all eyes are going to be fixed on them. They're starting a quest they hope will end with a victory in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

"It's big," Pace said of Sunday night's's matchup. "But [for us], don't make too much more than it is and just go out and relax and have fun like we do every day in practice. It's always a relaxed atmosphere. Just don't be too tight and it will be a challenge. But at the end of the day, we just have to go out there and play our game."

Moves: The Jets announced Saturday that they waived WR Mardy Gilyard and signed CB Isaiah Trufant off the practice squad and added him to the 53-man roster.