He counts Deion Sanders and Rod Woodson among his friends. He has plans on getting autographed jerseys from Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman.

In case it isn't obvious, Rossum grew up in Dallas. He was in high school during the early 1990s. "When the Cowboys were all-world," he said Thursday.

This weekend, however, Rossum would love nothing more than stick the Big D with a big "L." The return man will try to help the 49ers win in Dallas for the first time since 2002.

Rossum enters the game on a hot streak. He leads the NFC with a 27.9-yard kickoff average. He also leads the NFC in punt-return average, at 16.9. Not that he's counting.

Rossum swears he doesn't look at the stats until after the season, when the final numbers will testify to what kind of year he had. He also doesn't read the papers and joked that this article could rip him apart and he'd never know.

"The only time I see anything about myself is if I score a touchdown, and it's on ESPN," he said.

So Rossum probably caught a glimpse of himself after running one back 104 yards against the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 10. It tied for the second-longest return in the NFL since 1994, 1 yard behind the Detroit Lions' Terry Fair in 1998.

Suffice to say, the 49ers believe they're getting their money's worth. After the Pittsburgh Steelers waived him Feb. 22, the 49ers picked him up on a one-year, $870,000 deal.

Will he be back next season?

"That's something I can't answer at this time," coach Mike Singletary said. "But he's been outstanding."

Willis misses again

Linebacker Patrick Willis missed a second consecutive day of practice. On Wednesday, the team said he had a hip strain. On Thursday, he was out with an illness.

"He's fine," Singletary said. "He's a little nicked-up here and there, but ask any linebacker this time of year and they have the same thing. He'll be OK."

Morgan out again?

Receiver Josh Morgan is expected to miss a second consecutive game with a groin injury, and his return timetable is hazy. Morgan suffered the injury against Arizona. "It was a pretty significant injury, so I'm not sure we're going to get him back in the near future," offensive coordinator Mike Martz said.

To block Ratliff ...

Among the 49ers' top concerns Sunday is containing Dallas 6-foot-4, 302-pound lineman Jay Ratliff. His 6.0 sacks this season lead all NFL nose tackles. "He's really the best pass rusher at that position that I've seen," Martz said.

Daniel Brown,

MediaNews staff