Colledge says Cardinals will be “up and excited” for 49ers and MNF

The Cardinals are in the midst of a three game losing streak, but they can’t dwell on that.

Why? Because the 49ers and Monday Night Football are both right around the corner, and the team needs to get focused and ready.

The last time the Cardinals and 49ers got together for MNF in Glendale, Ariz., was on Nov. 29, 2010, a game the 49ers dominated, racking up 261 yards rushing in a 27-6 victory.

The Cardinals and 49ers were both 3-7 coming into that game, so other than the fact that the whole world was watching the game, it meant nothing other than the fact that one team would have a head up on the other, which San Francisco would (they also won the season finale at Candlestick Park that year).

For this meeting though, this one means a lot more for both clubs, as a share of first place is on the line, as the Niners come into the game at 5-2, the Cardinals at 4-3.

Head coach Ken Whisenhunt knows what a win over perhaps their most hated division rival would mean for him and his team.

“No question it would be huge,” Whisenhunt said. “This is a good football team that we’re going to play, it would mean a lot to our football team to play well and win this game, because we know in order to win it, we’re going to have to play well.”

“It’s a challenge, and our team has responded well to challenges at times,” Whisenhunt said. “Hopefully they’ll do that Monday night.”

Running back LaRod Stephens-Howling – who had 104 yards rushing against the Vikings on Sunday – says a win over San Francisco would be right on time considering what’s happened in the past three weeks.

“It’ll mean a lot,” Stephens-Howling said. “That’ll be great for us to move forward and we’ll have one game after that [Packers] and a bye week, and it’ll be great to go into the bye week with two wins.”

“Let’s just focus on [a] Monday win, get to the bye week and move on,” he said.

Guard Daryn Colledge says a win over the 49ers would give all the Cardinals critics a case of amnesia.

“Like with most things, it’s ‘What have you done for me lately?'” Colledge said. “It’s one of those things where if you win a game like this against the 49ers and get yourself back in the division, everybody kind of forgets the last three weeks. These are our rivals, and these are the guys that we need to beat and these are the guys who won the division last year,” Colledge said. “We know how important it is, and I’ve got a feeling that no matter what, we’re gonna be up and excited for this game.”