NFL PLAYOFFS : NFC’s Best Can Put Up or Shut Up : Pro football: Confident Cowboys expect the usual strong game from Smith in rematch against 49ers.

Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson has guaranteed a Cowboy victory. A week ago, San Francisco Coach George Seifert wasn’t sure his 49ers could handle Hoopla High in Northern California.

With contrasting coaching styles, powerhouse offenses and most of the NFL’s best-known stars, does it really matter who is playing in that other game today?

“You said that right--that other game,” Johnson said. “The NFC has won, I guess, nine Super Bowls in a row. So it’s an indication that the winner of this game may be the best team in professional football again.”

The 49ers and Cowboys, who will play the first NFC championship game in Texas Stadium since Jan. 1, 1978, tangled for the title a year ago in Candlestick Park. The Cowboys won, 30-20, before moving on to crush Buffalo, 52-17, in the Super Bowl.

In a regular-season rematch with the 49ers earlier this season in Dallas, the Cowboys won again, 26-17.

“We’re playing the best team in football in their home,” said Seifert, who added that his team was in disarray before beating the Giants, 44-3, last week. “The level of competition now is about as tough as we’ve faced since I’ve been the head coach here. In fact, it’s probably the toughest that I’ve faced since I’ve been the head coach.”

The Cowboys, who have won 32 of their last 40 games, have proved recently that they are the best team in football--as long as running back Emmitt Smith is in the lineup.

Smith will start for the Cowboys today, but he remains bothered by a shoulder injury.

“Jimmy laid his good hands upon my shoulder and my shoulder decided to be well,” Smith said. “So it feels very good.”

Without Smith, who sat out the first two games this season because of a contract dispute, the Cowboys couldn’t win. They lost to the Redskins, 35-16, and then fell to the Bills, 13-10.

Smith signed, and the Cowboys went on a seven-game winning streak. He suffered a thigh injury on his first carry against Atlanta, left the game and the Cowboys lost, 27-14. Bothered by the same injury a week later, Smith played against Miami, but the Cowboys were stopped, 16-14.

Back on two sound legs, Smith went on to win the NFL rushing title, and the Cowboys closed out the regular season with four consecutive victories.

“I think it’s very clear what Emmitt Smith means to this team,” Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman said. “We’re a completely different team with his presence.”

In last season’s championship victory, Smith scored two touchdowns, ran 24 times for 114 yards and caught seven passes for 59 yards.

“Emmitt Smith will be fine,” Seifert said. “Even if he isn’t 100%, what he brings to them emotionally will be significant.”

Smith carried only twice for 10 yards in the second half last week against Green Bay after the shoulder injury he suffered against the Giants a week earlier flared up.

“There’s always an opportunity to stick that needle in that shoulder if I need it,” said Smith, who has rejected anti-inflammatory injections all week. “I think a shot is still a possibility. I will do whatever it takes to be on the field.”

While the Cowboys rely on Smith, the 49ers have Ricky Watters. The Cowboys also have Michael Irvin and Jay Novacek. The 49ers counter with Jerry Rice and Brent Jones. The Cowboys have Aikman and the 49ers have Steve Young.

“The whole gang is going to be there,” Cowboy guard Nate Newton said. “What a great game to watch. We’re going to light it up, they are going to light it up, and it’s going to be quite a show.”

The 49ers had the No. 1 scoring offense in the league this season. Young, who continues to fight comparisons with Kansas City quarterback Joe Montana, finished second to Smith in voting for most valuable player.

“I don’t think Steve Young has won a Super Bowl, has he?” Johnson asked.

“With what Troy has accomplished, there’s no lingering doubt in his mind of what he’s capable of. Troy is confident he can do everything there is to accomplish as a quarterback. He doesn’t have any doubts hanging over his head.”

Aikman doesn’t make many mistakes--only six of his 392 passes were intercepted this season. Young tries to make things happen--he threw a league-high 29 touchdown passes, but had 16 passes intercepted.

Young completed 68% of his passes; Aikman 69.1%. Young will scramble, and Aikman will throw the ball away.

“Our offense is awesome,” Young said. “We think we can move the ball at any time against anybody if we avoid turnovers. We just have to make sure we don’t stop ourselves.

“It doesn’t mean we can’t win if we turn the ball over. But in the two games we’ve played against Dallas, that seemed to be the key.”

The 49ers lost the ball four times in last year’s title game, while the Cowboys did not have a turnover. This season, the 49ers had two turnovers, the Cowboys had one.

The Cowboys have speed on defense, while the 49ers have concerns. The Dallas defense gave up one touchdown or fewer in 12 of its 16 regular-season games. The 49er defense gave up three or more touchdowns in a game six times this season, and only Miami, Atlanta and Washington surrendered more passing touchdowns than San Francisco.

“The defenses shouldn’t even show up the way everybody has been talking about the offenses,” Cowboy linebacker Ken Norton said.

Said 49er safety Tim McDonald: “We played some good games defensively, then came back and didn’t play as well. Suddenly, we were the worst defensive team in the world.

“Now we have to play the Cowboys and they’re the defending Super Bowl champions. They have all the edge in the world. They’re the team to beat. The pressure is on them.”

What pressure? The Cowboys are going to win. Jimmy Johnson said so.