IRVING, Texas — Having spent seven seasons as a quarterback with Dallas in the 1990s, Cowboys Coach Jason Garrett is well-versed on the team’s rivalry with the Washington Redskins.

As for Garrett’s players, well, he put that in perspective earlier this week when mentioning his starting left tackle.

“Yeah, players are young,” Garrett said. “Tyron Smith was born in 1990.”

The Cowboys-Redskins rivalry was fierce for three decades - the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s - but since 2000 has fizzled because both teams have experienced their share of struggles.

Sunday night’s nationally televised season finale between the Cowboys and Redskins, however, is the next step in reviving the rivalry. The winner claims the NFC East title and will host a first-round playoff game. A Cowboys loss would end their season.

It’s been almost 30 years since these two teams have met this late in the season with so much on the line. Both teams entered the game Dec. 11, 1983, at 12-2 and tied for the NFC East lead. Quarterback Joe Theismann and running back John Riggins led the Redskins to a 31-10 victory, jump-starting their run to the Super Bowl.

“We’re pretty damn good,” Theismann boasted after beating Dallas.

That’s finally true again for a Washington team that finished 5-11 last year. In a flash, the Redskins are on the upswing after they drafted Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III with the second overall pick in April. The Redskins have won six consecutive games, and the Cowboys have won four out of their past six to stay in the hunt.

Suddenly, this rivalry has relevance again.

“It’s always been a rivalry, but now, there’s a little more at stake,” Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. “This is like a statement game.”

Veteran Washington linebacker London Fletcher agreed.

“There’s no love lost between either team,” Fletcher said. “For the younger guys, I’m sure they can feel the intensity.”

Since the Cowboys’ first season in 1960, Dallas and Washington have won a combined 27 division titles and eight Super Bowls. However, neither team has won a Super Bowl since the Cowboys won their fifth to end the 1995 season. Also, the Redskins haven’t won the NFC East since 1999, and the Cowboys have won the division just twice since 2000 (in 2007 and 2009).

Despite the two teams’ slumps, eighth-year Cowboys defensive end Marcus Spears argues that the rivalry has remained relevant this decade.

Spears points to a Week 4 game against Washington in 2008, when the 3-0 Cowboys lost at home 26-24 after coming so close to recovering an onside kick in the final two minutes that would have put them in position to drive for the game-winning field goal.

Spears said the way offensive lineman Flozell Adams took out his frustration after the game showed how much the rivalry still had relevance.

“Flozell tore up the locker room,” Spears said, laughing. “When we lost that game, he wasn’t happy. I can talk about him now since he’s gone, but the big fellow was upset. So, the rivalry hasn’t went anywhere.

“When you get dynamic players like we have at quarterback and RG3, and our running back is dynamic and their running back is playing great, a lot of that makes good TV. It makes good football. It makes good rivalries. I don’t think it’s fell off at all.”

The teams’ lack of success since 2000 says otherwise.

From 1966 to 1999, there were only three seasons in which neither the Cowboys nor Washington reached the playoffs (1988, 1989 and 1997).

Since 2000, the two teams have missed the playoffs in more seasons combined (seven) than either has made it (six).

Furthermore, this is only the Redskins’ third winning season since 2000. And the Cowboys are 140-140 since they won their last Super Bowl.

Tight end Jason Witten, the longest-tenured Cowboys player, said Sunday night’s do-or die-type game certainly will help revive a rivalry that has seemingly been dormant since the turn of the millennium.

“Any time you’re in this situation, regardless of who the opponent is, it’s always a lot of emotion,” Witten said. “They feel a little bit of hate toward us, and I’m sure it’s the same way with us.”

Sunday’s NFL games All times Central

Jacksonville at Tennessee, noon Carolina at New Orleans, noon NY Jets at Buffalo, noon Baltimore at Cincinnati, noon Cleveland at Pittsburgh, noon Houston at Indianapolis, noon Philadelphia at NY Giants, noon Chicago at Detroit, noon Tampa Bay at Atlanta, noon Oakland at San Diego, 3:25 p.m.

Arizona at San Francisco, 3:25 p.m.

St. Louis at Seattle, 3:25 p.m.

Kansas City at Denver, 3:25 p.m.

Green Bay at Minnesota, 3:25 p.m.

Miami at New England, 3:25 p.m.

Dallas at Washington, 7:20 p.m.

Sports, Pages 19 on 12/29/2012