by By LES BOWEN; bowenl@phillynews.com , The Philadelphia Daily News

Donovan McNabb was asked whether Eagles defensive backs coach Brian Stewart, the former Cowboys defensive coordinator, had been of any help this week, as the Birds prepare to host his former team Sunday night.

"No, not at all, not at all," the quarterback said, smiling extra wide, in case the questioner did not get that he was being facetious.

"Who's Brian Stewart?" center Jamaal Jackson asked, in a similar vein.

Ha, ha. Yuk-yuk. NFL teams play against former teammates and coaches all the time; usually, it doesn't have much to do with the outcome. Except when it does, such as the Giants' 16-3 victory over the Eagles 2 years ago, when former Jim Johnson assistant Steve Spagnuolo, running the New York defense, knew every blitzing button to push to get McNabb sacked an NFL-record 12 times and totally wreck the Eagles' offense.

The Eagles usually do not allow assistant coaches who aren't coordinators to talk with reporters, and a request to speak with Stewart this week did not result in an interview. But the Inside the Iggles blog reported that a broadcast from the postgame locker room following Sunday's victory over the Giants caught Stewart telling players: "We got the Cowgirls next."

It's a pretty safe bet that this is a big game to Stewart, the scapegoat for Dallas' late collapse last season, which culminated memorably in a 44-6 season-ending loss at the Linc.

"He wants to win this one," cornerback Sheldon Brown said. "Obviously, we want to win 'em all, but this one means a little more."

Dallas coach Wade Phillips, Stewart's former mentor, now runs the defense himself. McNabb said the Dallas defense "is different, because, obviously, Wade wants to put his wrinkle on things."

Brown recalled the Spagnuolo effect and said that even though Stewart's knowledge is not current, it still could prove crucial.

"If a guy really understands the system and what goes on, he can tell an offensive coordinator what the defense is trying to do," he said.

Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg acknowledged he had spoken with Stewart this week, but Mornhinweg didn't want to elaborate.

"We talked," head coach Andy Reid said. "All the coaches from the offensive side have talked to him about the scheme, and he had been with Wade a long time. Wade has changed a couple of things up, so we'll see. We'd be foolish not to utilize him. I know the defensive coaches have talked to him about the personnel on the offensive side." *

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