Two of the NFL's premier young running backs will face off on Sunday night in Dallas during primetime with the country watching.

The Giants face the Cowboys and the biggest storyline is Saquon Barkley vs. Zeke Elliot. Barkley is looking forward to lining up against the Cowboys star and the pair have been in contact this season. What have they been talking about?

"He texted me saying congratulations on the touchdown run and the start of the season," Barkley said Thursday. He continued to add that they haven't discussed Sunday's matchup much. "No, not really, not really. Obviously it's a grind week. He's over there preparing to win this game, I'm preparing to win the game for my team, but tremendous, wish him the best of luck to a great dude."

Elliot is entering his third season in the league after being the No. 4 overall draft pick in 2016. He took the league by storm, rushing for 1,631 yards and 15 touchdowns in his rookie season.

"We got to have a conversation before, got to meet him a couple of times," Barkley said. "I'm a big fan of his game, also, so I'm excited to see him play a lot of the game."

The relationship started when Barkley's Penn State played Elliot's Ohio State when Barkley was a freshman.

"I got to meet Zeke after the game," Barkley said. "He gave me high praise after the game. We both had pretty good games that game, and his team came out with the win, but I got to talk to Zeke in the offseason throughout my college career, keeping a little communication with him."

The touchdown Elliot congratulated Barkley on was an electrifying 68-yard run against the Jaguars last weekend. The Jags vaunted defense had done a great job of containing Barkley up until that point and the running back had no doubt he was always one carry away from something special.

"No doubt at all," Barkley said. "You believe that any time you touch the ball you can score, but you really can't prepare to score like that. The only way you can prepare is when you get to the next level, work on a move that's going to open you up or when you get one-on-one with a guy, most of the time those plays happen so fast, a lot of it is just reaction."

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