Irvin Puts Holdout and Cardinals Behind Him : NFC: Receiver who missed training camp in a salary dispute scores three touchdowns in Cowboys’ 31-20 victory.

Who needs training camp? Apparently not Michael Irvin.

Irvin caught three touchdown passes and compiled a personal-best 210 yards on eight receptions Sunday as the Dallas Cowboys remained undefeated with a 31-20 victory over the Phoenix Cardinals.

The Cowboys, who won their eighth consecutive regular-season game, are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 1983.

Phoenix (0-3) lost its 11th consecutive game as Dallas headed to a week off with three consecutive victories over NFC East opponents.

Emmitt Smith scored one touchdown and rushed for 112 yards in 26 carries, but the game belonged to Irvin, who missed all of training camp because he wanted the same salary as the 49ers’ Jerry Rice.

Irvin didn’t get as big a contract as Rice but signed for about $1 million a year.

Irvin’s scoring-pass plays covered 87, 41 and four yards in the fifth-best receiving day in team history. The Cowboys’ record for receiving yards in one day belongs to Bob Hayes at 246.

“I don’t want to hear another word about me being rusty,” Irvin said. “I want to put that holdout stuff behind me. I think you could see from today I’m not rusty.”

The only mistakes Irvin made were fumbling a reverse handoff from Smith and giving Coach Jimmy Johnson a busted lip. Irvin ran into Johnson on the sidelines in the second quarter and the headset microphone bloodied Johnson.

“It was a good thing Mike had a big day after he busted my lip,” Johnson quipped.

Troy Aikman, who completed 14 of 21 passes for 263 yards, said it was one of those days when he had a perfect touch and Irvin ran near-perfect routes.

“Mike just kept getting open,” Aikman said. “That 87-yarder was something.”

Dallas built a 21-10 halftime lead over the 14-point underdog Cardinals on a day when the temperature was 99 degrees on the field at Texas Stadium.

“We just couldn’t handle Irvin and Smith,” Phoenix Coach Joe Bugel said. “They had big players making big plays. We just have to play at a different level when we play Dallas.

“Let’s face it, Dallas and Philadelphia are the class of this division.”

The Cowboys struck for a touchdown only 61 seconds into the game on the second play from scrimmage.

Irvin took a 15-yard pass from Aikman and turned it into an 87-yard scoring play, fourth-longest in team history.

Irvin beat Lorenzo Lynch’s coverage, then broke Michael Zordich’s tackle for the Cowboys longest pass play since Roger Staubach teamed with Tony Dorsett on a 91-yarder in 1978.