Randy Moss was well on his way to becoming a superstar 13 weeks into his rookie season in 1998. But it was his performance on Thanksgiving Day that put the rest of the NFL -- and the Dallas Cowboys -- on notice.

Twenty years have passed since the Minnesota Vikings beat the Cowboys 46-36 on Nov. 26, 1998. Moss, still bothered by the Cowboys passing on him in the draft, annihilated Dallas’ defense and finished with this absurd stat line: three catches for 163 yards and three touchdowns. The Cowboys were also called for 50-yard pass interference penalty trying to cover Moss.

Moss’ dominating day on Thanksgiving is often remembered among the top performances from his Hall of Fame career. He recently reminisced with ESPN.com about his memories of that day and what it means after being enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August and receiving his HOF ring at halftime of the Vikings-Packers game on Sunday night.

How much did the Cowboys’ decision to not draft you with the eighth overall pick in 1998 add to the motivation you had entering that game on Thanksgiving? How did you quell your nerves in-game?

Moss: "I don’t really think there’s been a big performance like that -- three catches for whatever I did with three touchdowns. I think it’s more of the memories I have from doing it. I think from a coaching standpoint, coaches, players, everybody enjoyed doing what they had to do that week because it was a short week. We had to turn right back around and go play Dallas in Dallas. It was just a good feeling to go in Dallas, my first game going against Jerry Jones and that team, where it was a little emotional. I think once I scored my first touchdown, that’s where I could relax a little bit, where the expectations for me, the expectations I had for myself, when I was able to go out there and make my first play, it was easier for me to go out there and make the other two."

What did (former Vikings coach) Dennis Green do during the week of preparation for Dallas?

Moss: "He didn’t say much, it was just more, ‘Young man, this is your opportunity. You’re on a stage. It’s going to be a little bit different as far as our preparation.’ Just more of preparing me for the week so I could make sure I was at my best on Thursday. There were no incentives, not fueling the fire. He was more trying to keep me grounded and at the same time making sure I was ready, too."

Four days prior, the Vikings improved to 10-1 with a win over the Green Bay Packers. Was that a difficult week of preparation for you to keep your emotions in check as you geared up to face the team that slighted you in the draft?

Moss: "Some of the veterans had seen me a little antsy. It was more like, ‘Hey man, sit down’ or, ‘Relax, man, you’re going to get it. Don’t go so hard in practice.’ I could just vaguely remember that we played on Sunday and we had a Monday or Tuesday that was a walk-through. It wasn’t a full practice, and I was out there like a chicken with his head cut off running full speed as if I didn’t play a game on Sunday. I could just remember feeling whatever I was feeling, I didn’t feel it. I was just ready to go. I was ready to go play the game on Monday."

What did veterans like Cris Carter and John Randle do to help you prepare for a game of that magnitude?

Moss: "My rookie year, the veterans were a little uncertain of how much help I could really bring to this team. Through the course of the season, I’d already shown them that I could score, that I deserve to be there playing and getting reps. They knew how much it meant to me, they knew about the draft day, I didn’t really have to say much to them. They really had to keep me grounded because I was kind of like -- you know how hyped a dog is when you get home and let him out to pee? He’s kind of like ‘Let me out! Let me out!’ So they knew that I was ready to rock and roll. They were just trying to keep me grounded, so when the time came for us to play Thursday. ... When they saw the plays I was able to make, it just uplifted the whole team from special teams -- we had a fumble on kickoff -- it was just a great atmosphere to be in, and we won on the road."

The 1998 Vikings team that went 15-1 was so explosive offensively, and nothing points to that more than your touchdown catches of 51, 56 and 56 yards. What do you remember about how the offense was able to string together those explosive drives?

Moss: "The first touchdown was designed that way (to be an explosive gain) because it was a flea-flicker. I think the second touchdown, given the way that the Dallas Cowboys had been playing us, [offensive coordinator Brian] Billick told Randall [Cunningham] just throw it up and throw it deep. My third touchdown, I don’t think I was even supposed to get the ball and score, but the concept was a hitch by me. Cris Carter was in the slot, and he was supposed to run a corner. With my hitch, the quarterback had to read the corner. If he comes up on me, he throws the corner [route] to Cris. If he backs off of me, then he throws the ball to me. If you go back to the third touchdown, he was kind of pressured. I didn’t even run my full route because the one thing I was taught was that when quarterbacks are pressured, you don’t run your full route. So I think I might have ran 3 yards or 2.5 yards. It wasn’t a full 5. So when he put it in my hands, it was like, 'OK, let’s get it and go. That’s why I say on my third touchdown, I don’t really think the ball was supposed to come to me. But I do think that the day that I was having and Randall wanting to get the ball out of his hands and believing in me, he just got out of his hands and threw it out there. I was not supposed to have the ball on that play."

"Out of all the teams that I ever played against in my 14-year career, that was the No. 1 team that I never wanted to lose to." Randy Moss on beating the Cowboys

Every time Randall Cunningham threw the ball in your direction, it looked like he was smiling, almost as if he realized what you were about to do every time you made a catch. What do you remember about that?

Moss: "I think from Randall Cunningham’s quarterback position, I don’t really think that he’s had that much fun of throwing the ball around, of the offense having that much recognition. You have to realize, Randall Cunningham was [out of football during the 1996 season], and Denny Green brought him out of retirement to play with the Vikings. Randall coming off, as we would say, the bench or coming out of retirement to play and then the success that we had, they were talking about him being comeback player of the year, MVP. Randall’s always been that gunslinger, run-and-shoot type quarterback, wants to run, throw the ball on the run. So for him to be able to sit back and just throw later in his career, I think that’s really what he was, just a big kid at a candy store with all those weapons out there. I don’t think he’d had anything to work with like that in his career before."

You never lost a game against the Cowboys in seven meetings over the course of your career with the Vikings, Raiders and Patriots. How much did that mean to you?

Moss: "I took a lot of pride in that. Out of all the teams that I ever played against in my 14-year career, that was the No. 1 team that I never wanted to lose to. It was kind of like, ‘over my dead body,’ I want to win this game. I’m the last guy, throw me the ball."