Ron Jaworski explains why he does not think the Cowboys need to lose a game to find out who they really are and suggest they should keep it going to keep their confidence high. (0:47)

FRISCO, Texas -- Today is Wednesday. Never mind that the calendar says it is Sunday. Don’t pay attention to those NFL games you will watch later today.

In the Dallas Cowboys’ world, it is Wednesday.

With their first trip to US Bank Field looming Sunday, err, Thursday to take on the Minnesota Vikings, the Cowboys are attempting to trick their minds this week. In a normal Sunday-to-Sunday week, this is a Wednesday.

“We’re just going to treat it like a normal week,” right guard Ronald Leary said. “It’s a regular seven-day week.”

Jason Witten is in the midst of his third stretch of three games in 12 days during his Cowboys career. Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports

That’s one way to look at it. After the Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins on Thanksgiving, Jason Garrett was actually spinning the calendar forward.

“[Friday] is Monday for us,” Garrett said. “We’ll get the 10 days after that one. We just have to get back to work and get our eyes on Minnesota quickly.”

Garrett started this talk last week, when his team had only four days between games. The real trick was last Wednesday, when the Cowboys held their “Friday” practice but saw things turn into a “Saturday” on their drive to the team hotel, the Gaylord Texan.

It might seem confusing to those outside the Cowboys circle, but it makes perfect sense to everybody within the club.

“It’s better than going Sunday to Thursday, so we’ll take it, man,” cornerback Brandon Carr said.

The Cowboys are getting ready to play their third game in a 12-day span. The last time they did this, in 2014, they lost on Thanksgiving to the Philadelphia Eagles but had a dominating performance the following Thursday against the Chicago Bears.

In 2007, the Cowboys had a similar three-game run and beat the Redskins and the New York Jets before essentially clinching the best record with a Thursday night win against the Green Bay Packers at Texas Stadium.

The Cowboys, winners of 10 in a row, can all but clinch a playoff spot with a win Thursday against the Vikings and inch closer to the best record in the conference.

Winning helps players deal with the disruption in the rhythm of a season. All season the Cowboys have lauded their chemistry and the leadership provided by veterans such as Jason Witten, who has gone through this three-games-in-12-days span twice before.

“The coaching staff and players and our staff members come to work every day, and they want to be a part of something special,” Garrett said. “It’s a great culture and great environment to be around on a daily basis. There is certainly no question that winning is a good thing. But again, as much as anything else, it’s just about the guys we have and how we go about it every day. Our guys do a great job of focusing on the task at hand and going to work. When you get a bunch of guys that want to be part of a team, that love coaching and playing football, good things are going to happen.”

So today is Wednesday and Monday is Thursday and Tuesday is Friday. It just makes sense.

“They throw these schedules at you and it’s part of the game,” Carr said. “It’s a challenge. It’s a challenge to play the game. It’s a challenge just to get ready each and every week. They throw wrinkles in as far as -- what’s this, three games in 12 days? You’ve got to go do it. You get through this one, get through the storm, get through this hard stretch, you can look back and tell stories about it. It’s something makes us bond and become closer.”