DETROIT -- Emmitt Smith admits he would still be chasing the NFL's rushing record if Barry Sanders didn't retire three years ago at the age of 31.

"Barry had not only the best chance of getting the record, but blowing the record way out, setting it in the 20,000-mark area,'' Smith said. "I felt very confident he had the ability to do so, and I thought he was going to do it. But upon his retirement, I was very shocked, like everyone else was.

"I knew Barry had a chance of getting it before I did, so I knew if he got there before me, I'd be chasing after not only Walter (Payton), but him as well.''

Smith isn't chasing anybody now.

After running for a season-high 109 yards last week at home in a loss to Seattle, Smith is the NFL's career leading rusher with 16,743 yards. He surpassed Payton's mark of 16,726.

Payton set his record over 13 seasons and Smith surpassed it in his 13th year.

In just 10 seasons, Sanders ran for 15,269 yards with the Detroit Lions. With Payton's record just one of his average seasons away, Sanders quietly walked away from the game just before training camp in 1999. He always said he wasn't motivated to break records and he proved it.

Sanders said in a written statement that his desire to retire was stronger than his desire to play, and hasn't said much since.

He has been as elusive in retirement -- mostly in suburban Detroit -- as he was on the field, where his crazy-legs style made defenses look helpless. People may see him on a golf course or at a restaurant, but the introvert has kept a low profile.

Smith said he hasn't talked to Sanders recently, but did receive a congratulatory message from him through a mutual friend since breaking the record.

While Payton and Jim Brown often top lists of the game's all-time best running backs, there often is a debate over who the best back of this era is: Smith or Sanders?

Smith, who has three Super Bowl rings, has been regarded as a better all-around back because of his blocking and receiving skills. Sanders, who won only one playoff game, went over 2,000 yards in 1997 -- something Smith never has done -- and averaged more yards per carry and season than Smith has.

Detroit defensive back Eric Davis, whose NFL career began in 1990, tried to tackle both.

"I'd flip a coin, because I couldn't pick one over the other,'' Davis said. "Both are blessed with great vision and balance. Emmitt is a great north-south runner, who always gets positive yardage and scores a lot of touchdowns. Barry might lose 7 yards on one play, 3 on the next and 2 on the next, then before you know it, you're chasing him down on a 70-yard run.''

Both Dallas (3-5) and Detroit (2-5) want to run effectively on Sunday to take pressure off their rookie quarterbacks.

"The Cowboys are much like us,'' Detroit coach Marty Mornhinweg said. "They have played two very young quarterbacks, and they are trying to use the running game to take the pressure off of them.''

James Stewart has run for 255 yards and three TDs in his past two games.

Chad Hutchinson will make his second start for the Cowboys, playing in just his second game since his sophomore season at Stanford in 1997 behind an offensive line that has been shuffled for an eighth time.

Regardless of how he plays, Dallas coach Dave Campo plans to stick with him over Quincy Carter.

"It is time for us to evaluate Chad Hutchinson right now,'' Campo said. "We are going to be patient with him. We have to find out from these two guys that we're kind of hanging our hat on, exactly where they are at. We think we have a real good feel for Quincy, and now it's time for Chad Hutchinson.''

The Lions don't need to evaluate Joey Harrington further because they already know he's their man and Mike McMahon is not. Harrington will make his fifth straight start.

"We'll be 3-1 at home this season if we can win,'' tackle Jeff Backus said. "We've been awful on the road, but hopefully we can build upon a positive thing if we can establish something at home.''