SUPER BOWL XXVII : MVP? Aw, Shucks, It’s Troy Aikman : Cowboys: Quarterback tells his linemen to stop Bills, and they do--as he passes for four touchdowns.

In his most memorable play of Super Bowl XXVII, Troy Aikman took off from midfield, cut right and raced untouched toward the end zone.

Halfway there, he stuck his right hand high into the air, pumped his elbow, waggled his index finger. And perhaps a new era was given its signature.

As visions of Joe Montana thrusting his arms into the air had dominated the 1980s, Aikman’s demonstrative run could become football’s latest indelible image.

He introduced it Sunday upon throwing a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Alvin Harper, sealing an eventual 52-17 victory over the Buffalo Bills while ensuring his niche in Super Bowl history.

In winning the Super Bowl’s most-valuable-player award in his first try, Aikman missed on only eight of 30 passes, threw for four touchdowns, rushed for more yards than the Bills’ Thurman Thomas, 28-19, and still maintained the aw, shucks attitude that has made this Oklahoman more popular in Dallas than fajitas.

Yes, after the game, he was asked that certain question by a Disneyland camera crew.

“Yeah, I told them I was going,” he said, shaking his head. “So I guess I better show up.”

He probably could have left right then, wearing his football pants, Super Bowl T-shirt and souvenir cap shoved down over his blond hair.

The only mark on him was smudged eye black. The only time he didn’t smile was when someone asked whether he thought he deserved the MVP award.

“I’m a little bashful about me receiving it,” he said.

He was the only one. Although his total of 273 yards passing was far from a record, only Montana has thrown more touchdown passes in a Super Bowl game.

And among all Cowboys, it was only Aikman who had the nerve to talk tough to his teammates the night before the game.

It happened in the hotel room of offensive linemen John Gesek and Dale Hellestrae Saturday night. Also in attendance was tight end Jay Novacek.

Perhaps inspired by the western movie, “Unforgiven,” which they had finished viewing shortly before, Aikman stood up and laid down the law.

Recalled Gesek: “He said, ‘You know, their defensive backs can’t cover our receivers. But they don’t have to cover them because their defensive line puts on such a great pass rush. You guys have got to stop them.’ ”

Those words were running through the minds of several players in the huddle early in Sunday’s game after Aikman, under great pressure, shakily missed on three of his first five attempts.

The Bills led, 7-0, and it looked as if Dallas’ inexperience would paralyze them.

“But then we looked at Troy, and he just right looked back at us and said nothing,” guard Nate Newton said. “He didn’t get on us, he didn’t yell at us because he needed this or that. He just looked at us.

“And we knew then, we just had to calm down and keep playing, and everything would be all right. Our leader wasn’t going to panic, so us lesser names weren’t going to panic.”

And suddenly, the blocking was there. And suddenly, on a third and 17 late in the first quarter, Aikman found the time and poise to complete a 20-yard pass across the middle to Michael Irvin.

The Cowboys made the score 7-7 three plays later on Aikman’s 23-yard pass over the middle to Novacek and did not stop scoring until after Aikman had left the game late in the fourth quarter.

So, was Aikman ever really nervous?

“You try not to make it out to be a bigger game than it is, but . . . you see all the pageantry and . . . I was nervous,” he said. “I kept telling myself to just relax.”

About the only bad thing that happened to Aikman after those first two series occurred late in the first half, when Darryl Talley batted down a first-down pass on the Cowboys’ 43-yard line.

Aikman’s response? He clapped. Twice.

Two plays later, he made a perfect read on a mismatch between Irvin and Nate Odomes, and easily found a wide-open Irvin for a 19-yard touchdown pass, giving the Cowboys a 21-10 lead.

Then, after Jimmie Jones recovered Thomas’ fumble for the Cowboys, Aikman found Irvin wide open again, this time for an 18-yard touchdown pass that gave the Cowboys a 28-10 halftime lead.

“It wasn’t that easy,” Aikman said. “In the beginning, they settled into a two-deep coverage that took our wide receivers out of the game. So Jay (Novacek) worked them over the middle.

“Then when they finally had to watch him, our wide receivers were open.”

In other words, with this talent-loaded offense, Aikman’s most difficult task was patience.

“I try to go into every game realizing that we have enough good people so I don’t have to force things,” Aikman acknowledged.

Aikman’s accomplishments this season have often been overshadowed by the heroics of Emmitt Smith, the NFL rushing leader.

But the Cowboys’ leading authority on image said that has happened for the last time.

“For a long time now, people have been asking me, ‘Who should be your MVP?’ ” Irvin said. “ ‘Should it be Emmitt?’ Emmitt is great, great, great. But Troy Aikman, what that man did . . . wow.”