IRVING, TEXAS ? When he was hired, Steve Spurrier promised to give owner Daniel Snyder a game ball after leading the Redskins to a victory over the Cowboys.

The first-year coach just never specified when that victory would come.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be this year or not. I’ve never guaranteed any win in my life,” Spurrier said after being reminded repeatedly of the comments he made when hired in January. “He will not get a game ball from me until someday we beat the Cowboys. It may be this week. It may not be.”

If it comes today, when the Redskins (5-6) play at the Cowboys (4-7), a couple of streaks will end.

Dallas has won nine straight games in the series, matching Miami’s dominance over Cincinnati as the longest active run in the NFL. The Redskins, whose last win over Dallas was Nov. 16, 1997, have never beaten the Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.

Dallas players are well aware of Spurrier’s vow 10 months ago.

“The first thing I remember hearing the coach say is that he is going to give a game ball when they play the Cowboys,” said tight end Tony McGee, who signed with Dallas in April. “That stuck out in my mind, not even being with the organization. There are 11 other games before then, and that’s the most important thing.”

Snyder is a lifelong Redskins fan who bought the team in 1999 and since had to endure six straight defeats to Dallas.

In the two seasons before the current on, a mediocre Dallas team managed to win a total of just 10 games ” and four of those victories came against the Redskins.

Last season, under coach Marty Schottenheimer, Washington turned its season around with a five-game winning streak. The losses that bookended that streak? Games against Dallas, of course.