updated 6:42 p.m. ET Oct. 5, 2006

IRVING, Texas - Here they go again: Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb have their signals crossed.

Days before the buddies-turned-enemies face off for the first time since their nasty breakup, a misunderstanding is brewing over a text message McNabb says he sent Owens last week after a trip to the hospital was reported as an attempted suicide.

Owens said Wednesday he never got it. While he stopped short of calling McNabb a liar, the sour look on his face sure seemed to insinuate it.

Asked later if it was possible McNabb sent the message to an old phone number, Owens said: “Look, I’m not trying to start anything. He’s a smart guy. If he wanted my number, he could’ve gotten it.”

Earlier Wednesday, in separate interviews with reporters in Philadelphia and on a conference call with reporters in Dallas, McNabb said he reached out to Owens to “let him know that I was thinking about him praying for him,” adding that he hoped “everything would turn out well and that he’d get back out on the field and be healthy.”

“And if he needed anything, to call,” McNabb said he wrote.

McNabb said he never got a response, but added he wasn’t looking for one, either.

“I think the message was sent,” McNabb said. “If he read it or received it, then I think he would know.”

T.O. and McNabb could hash things out in person — but likely won’t — on Sunday when the Cowboys (2-1) visit Philadelphia to take on the Eagles (3-1). While the game is a pivotal early-season matchup for first place in the NFC East, all eyes will be on Owens and how the City of Brotherly Love vents its anger toward him for tearing apart its team.

“Once we win, it will be special,” Owens said, later clarifying he wasn’t guaranteeing a victory. “We’re not going there to taste the cheesesteaks. We’re not going there to visit the crack in the Liberty Bell. We’re going up there to try to win a ballgame.”

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Owens was a model citizen when he arrived in Philadelphia in 2004, saying he wanted to catch passes from McNabb and get the team to the Super Bowl after three near-misses. And he did. Although he missed the playoffs with an ankle surgery, he returned for the Super Bowl and played well, but Philadelphia lost.

Then everything went haywire.

Owens trashed McNabb, demanded a new contract and caused all sorts of problems. He was sent home for a week in training camp, then was kicked out for good with nine games left. Finally cut in March, he signed with the Cowboys four days later. In July, he released an autobiography in which he said the root of his problems with McNabb were being cussed at in the huddle; McNabb later referred to Owens’ literary effort as a “children’s book.”

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Owens has made no secret about looking forward to getting revenge. He’s often said this game has been circled on his calendar since the schedule was released, even telling Sports Illustrated he worked out in sets of 10-8, referencing the Oct. 8 game. McNabb mocked that while talking to Dallas reporters.

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“I got my eight in just a few minutes ago,” he said, laughing. “I did eight push-ups, eight curls and I was just so focused, I’m ready to go.”

Without knowing about that jab, Owens threw one of his own Wednesday, slipping it in while praising McNabb for a strong start this season.

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