GREEN BAY -- Al Harris hasn't quite been himself this week.

"Who am I then?" the Green Bay Packers veteran cornerback said following Thursday's practice.

That's hard to say. But entering the Packers' nationally televised showdown Sunday night with the Dallas Cowboys -- and Harris' matchup with wide receiver Terrell Owens -- his behavior was, well, peculiar.

Owens caught seven passes for 156 yards and a touchdown in last season's Nov. 29 meeting between the teams, when the mano-a-mano battle was hyped before the game but never really materialized.

In that game, Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett repeatedly sent Owens in motion, effectively countering the Packers' bump-and-run coverage by forcing them to play off and in zones. The Packers struggled to adjust, and that, then, led to a cryptic message from Harris Thursday.

"I can say this: I think this is a much better game-plan (this week)," Harris said. "This is the best game-plan that we've had since I've been here, in this scheme. I honestly think that. And you can quote me on that. After the game, you won't even say anything. You'll just smile and know what I'm talking about."

Good, because no one does right now. But Harris did acknowledge the Packers cannot allow Owens -- after having three catches for 89 yards, including 72- and 4-yard touchdowns, all in the first half of Monday night's victory over Philadelphia -- to take over the game like he did last year.

Owens caught seven of the 11 balls thrown his direction in that game -- Harris intercepted one that deflected off his hands in the end zone, and Owens was awarded a 12-yard catch on the first pass he saw even though Harris wrested it away from him on the sideline -- and most came via pre-snap motion, which often led to Owens bunching or "stacking" with other receivers in the same area at the snap.

Cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington said bump-and-run is rendered useless against in-motion receivers because it requires precise hand-placement on the jam at the line of scrimmage. When a receiver goes in motion, Washington said, the cornerback is forced to play off-coverage instead.

"In those situations, you can't bump guys, you have to play off. That's what they tried to do, so we can't get our hands on them and disrupt the timing of their routes," Washington said. "We understand what they did to us, and we're going to defend it this time. We're going to make an adjustment this week, and we'll see what happens."

While motion was part of the problem, Washington said emotion played a role, too.

"I think with Al, sometimes when you're playing the best receiver, sometimes you get caught up in that and you lose focus on everything else. I think Al sometimes just needs to relax and play his game," Washington said. "As long as Al stays under control with what he's doing, he doesn't have any problems. Guys are going to make plays on you. T.O. is one of the best receivers in the league. Whenever you're on T.O., your level of play has to pick up, and if you don't, he's going to beat you real bad. (But) you don't want to get so high that you lose focus on your job."

The Cowboys are expecting Harris to match up with Owens -- "I think they'll probably keep Al on him wherever he goes; they probably like that matchup," Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo said, "but we'll be prepared for a few other things as well" -- and Owens certainly doesn't mind it.

"Sometimes you live by the sword, and sometimes you die by the sword," said Owens, who had 34- and 48-yard catches to set up touchdowns and a 10-yard TD catch of his own in that game but also had a pair of drops. "Sometimes being aggressive or overly aggressive, you try to exploit those things."

On Monday night, the Eagles used all three of their top cornerbacks on Owens before double-covering him after halftime. Tight end Jason Witten ended up catching seven passes for 110 yards.

"When you have somebody of my caliber, you are going to try to throw the book at them. I already expect that going into every game," Owens said. "They are going to try different coverages. If that doesn't work, they are going to try different personnel. If that doesn't work, then, hey, eventually they are going to have three or four guys on me. When that stuff happens, you saw the results of it."

Owens called Harris and Charles Woodson "one of the best cornerback tandems in the league," then added, "Al presents some challenges. I know he's going to play a lot of bump-and-run and I'll be faced with that. No different than last year. Obviously, I think he knows what to expect from me, and I know what to expect from him. With that being said, I think they know what to expect from this team. I think we have a lot of weapons."

Owens' career has been filled with big moments against the Packers, from his name-making last-second touchdown catch in the 1998 NFC playoffs with San Francisco to his 161-yard game with Philadelphia to last year's performance, which clearly still bothers Harris -- or at least how that game is depicted.

"Do you remember the last game?" Harris asked, calling it "the game that I had two interceptions" even though one was nullified. "Let me ask you a couple questions: How many yards did T.O. have? 156. How many catches? Seven. How many did you see me around him? Three. That should tell you right there if they had a great game plan for what we were doing. You've got to read between the lines on the rest."