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Philip Rivers’ final completion of the day was a short toss that covered about two yards but served as a gesture that showed just how much the Chargers appreciate their head coach.

After Norv Turner congratulated his team on their eighth-consecutive victory, Rivers got everyone’s attention and awarded a game ball to Turner in effort to show his appreciation for the way Turner has guided the club.

“He doesn’t care one bit about getting recognition, but he certainly deserves a ton of credit for where we’re at,” Rivers said. “I know it was special for him to come to Dallas. He’s always the one giving out game balls so I thought I’d give him one this time for the great job he’s done.”

Turner spent three seasons as the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator and won two Super Bowls as the team’s play caller. While Rivers recognized the sentimental value that likely made the victory a little sweeter for his coach, Turner’s said his true joy came in beating a good football team on the road, regardless of his history with that team.

“It’s an emotional deal because of what’s at stake,” Turner said. “I’m extremely proud of our football team.”

More milestones

LaDainian Tomlinson’s trip home brought a couple more significant feats for the Texas Christian University grad. His first-quarter touchdown was his 10^th of the season, which extended his own record to nine-consecutive seasons in double digit scores.

His one-yard plunge into the end zone was his 136^th rushing touchdown of his career and broke Emmitt Smith’s record for rushing touchdowns in a single decade. Smith scored 135 in the 1990’s.

“It was special,” Tomlinson said of playing in Dallas. “I saw a lot of TCU folk, a lot of family and a lot of friends. And we’re going home with a big win.”

Not tourists

Turner said he was amused by the way his players acted when they visited Cowboys Stadium Saturday for the team’s walkthrough practice.

“All the guys had their cell phones out and they were taking pictures of the stadium board and taking pictures of all the different things that there were to take pictures of,” Turner said.

Several players said that while they were impressed with the massive building, they were there on business, not as tourists. That’s how they approached Sunday.

“When they came in today, that was not on their mind at all,” Turner said. “We’ve got a veteran group of guys that have been around.”

Kicking it

Punter Mike Scifres pegged the enormous video board during pregame warm ups but didn’t come close with any of his three kicks during the game. His first punt didn’t come until the next to last play of the second quarter.

Fellow special teamer Kassim Osgood had quite a day Sunday. He downed a punt at the four yard line and another at the one to pin Dallas deep. Turner called the big plays a combination of Scifres and Osgood’s talents.

“Kassim is probably the best special teams guys I’ve ever been around,” Turner said. “And I don’t think anyone has ever seen anyone punt the ball inside the five like (Scifres) does.”

Going 3D

The Cowboys handed out 3D glasses to everyone as they entered the stadium Sunday with plans for the video board to air three-dimensional images throughout the third quarter. They scrapped the plan approximately eight minutes into it, which drew a loud applause from the crowd of 90,000.

“I couldn’t see a thing,” tight end Antonio Gates said. “I couldn’t wait for them to put it back to normal. It was hurting my eyes.”

Five-man crew

The Chargers have relied on a six-man rotation along the defensive line for the last couple months, but with Ogemdi Nwagbuo going on injured reserve this week and Alfonso Boone sidelined with a knee injury, they used just five men up front Sunday. Luis Castillo returned from a two-week absence. Newly signed Antonio Garay was inactive.