Emmitt Smith still bleeds Cowboys silver and blue, but the NFL's all-time leading rusher is not sure his former team is mentally tough enough to go to MetLife Stadium on Sunday to beat the New York Giants in a game to decide the NFC East champion.

"Talent-wise, I think they have it," Smith said in an ESPN interview. "Leadership-wise, they have some good leaders on the ballclub. Do they have enough? Probably not. Can they go up to New York and be mentally tough in this situation? I think Jason (Garrett) has done a very good job of preparing the guys to be physically and hopefully mentally tough, but I think mental toughness is the thing needed in games like this.

"Mental toughness for four quarters or five quarters, if you have to go that far. But that's something our Cowboys have not been able to do in close games. And that's where mental toughness comes into play.

"Unfortunately for us we've lost four games this year in the fourth quarter -- four points or less. And so that in itself is something we definitely need to get corrected in the short period of time to make that happen up in New York."

The Cowboys blew fourth-quarter leads in losses to the Jets (27-24), Lions (34-30), Patriots (20-16) and Giants (37-34).