HOUSTON — Houston star J.J. Watt knows how important Sunday’s game (7:20 p.m., NBC) against the Dallas Cowboys is to fans of both teams.

But the way the Texans’ season has gone so far, Watt isn’t concerned about the significance of this in-state rivalry and is simply worried about helping his guys turn things around.

“I’m sure there’s definitely something there for the fans on both sides, but … they could be lining up anybody over there,” Watt said. “We need to win this game.”

The Texans (1-3) got their first victory last week in overtime against the Colts after opening the season with three straight losses. The Cowboys (22) haven’t fared much better and picked up their second win on Sunday against the Lions.

This game tends to be hyped more because these teams meet so rarely. Sunday will be the fifth time between these teams and the first since 2014. The Cowboys have won the last three, with Houston’s only win coming in the franchise’s first game in 2002. While Watt really didn’t want

to get into the rivalry aspect of this game, quarterback Deshaun Watson talked about what a win over Dallas would mean to the city.

“This is pretty much the battle of Texas,” Watson said. “Two Texas teams and Houston wants to beat Dallas and have the bragging rights. So, we have to go out there and do our job and try to get those bragging rights so the whole city of Houston can hold that weight for a year.”

To do that the Texans will have to slow down running back Ezekiel Elliott, who leads the NFL with 426 yards rushing. He had a season-high 29 touches for a career-high 240 yards from scrimmage in the win over Detroit.

The 25 carries were by far the most this season and it’s what he expects every week — not the 16-carry average from the first three weeks when the Dallas offense was spotty at best.

IRVING’S RETURN WILL WAIT

Defensive lineman David Irving was activated by Dallas after starting the season on a four-game suspension for the second straight year. But the club said he didn’t make the trip because of an excused absence for personal reasons and wouldn’t make his season debut. Irving had six sacks in his first four games coming off last year’s suspension. He finished with seven sacks in eight games before a concussion sidelined him for the final four games.

NOTES: Four-time Pro Bowl center Travis Frederick was placed on the non-football illness list by the Cowboys on Saturday because of a nerve condition that has kept him from playing this season. The team also put receiver Terrance Williams on injured reserve because of a foot injury.