Cowboys Get Ready For Sanders

	IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Forget Billy Sims or Thurman Thomas. The
best running back Barry Switzer saw in the Big Eight Conference was
the one he faces next Monday night, Barry Sanders.
	``I remember watching film when I was at Oklahoma getting ready
to play Oklahoma State,'' Switzer said. ``I saw this back run a
kickoff back 100 yards. Then a little while later he did it again.
	``I walked over to our coaches in another room and I told them
`you better hope Thurman Thomas doesn't get hurt. Look at this
freshman run.' ''
	Switzer said Tuesday, ``Barry Sanders is the best back I saw out
of the Big Eight Conference I've seen in the last 30 years.''
	Sanders and the Detroit Lions meet Switzer's Dallas Cowboys
Monday night in Texas Stadium, home of the NFL's top running back,
Emmitt Smith.
	``Both are great players,'' Switzer said. ``Barry doesn't get to
touch the ball like Emmitt does. If Barry did, his stats would be
better. Barry always makes things happen. His supporting cast isn't
as great as Emmitt's.
	``All great backs look the same when they have no place to
run.''
	Switzer recalled Sanders always gave Oklahoma trouble.
	``His teams had trouble winning because the defense wasn't good
enough,'' Switzer said. ``But he would scare you.''
	Switzer said Oklahoma State got Sanders locked up before he knew
about him.
	``Nobody had a chance to get him,'' Switzer said. ``Oklahoma
State got a film of Barry out of a Wichita high school from the
coach. I think they destroyed the film after they saw what a great
player he was. Nobody saw him.''
	Sanders, who gained only 16 yards Sunday during a 10-3 loss to
Minnesota, needs 75 yards against Dallas to reach 7,000 career
rushing yards.
	It will be the fourth time Sanders has faced the Cowboys. He has
rushed for 232 yards on 51 carries in previous game. His longest
run was 47 yards and he has scored one touchdown.
	The Cowboys will face a run-and-shoot team for the second
consecutive week. Dallas defeated Houston 20-17 Sunday, surviving a
scare from scrambling quarterback Bucky Richardson.
	Switzer said he would rather face Detroit quarterback Scott
Mitchell than Richardson.
	``Mitchell is a big strong guy but he can't run like Bucky,''
Switzer said. ``He's not a threat to scramble like Bucky did. It's
a great dimension to have in a quarterback.''
	Richardson burned the Dallas defense with seven scrambles for 37
yards.
	``We were worried about Bucky even on fourth and nine,'' Switzer
said. ``Mitchell has a strong arm with great velocity.''