QUICK KICKS

* IT’S ABOUT TIME: The Dallas Cowboys made their most important personnel decision last week since the signing of Emmitt Smith, and it had nothing to do with Bernie Kosar.

Jerry Jones finally agreed to begin renegotiating the contract of Troy Aikman, who at $1.17 million is paid less than 30 other quarterbacks in the league.

Part of Jones’ reasoning is that if he wants to make Aikman the highest-paid player in the game--how does $6 million a year sound?--he’d better do it before the end of the season, so he can front-load the money against the impending salary cap.

Another reason is that he saw what happened when he fooled around with Smith. The Cowboys did not win without Smith and have not lost with him.

“Jerry defused what could have been a very volatile situation,” said Leigh Steinberg, Aikman’s agent. “Of course, what they did in 15 minutes for Bernie Kosar ($1 million for the rest of the season), it has taken them a year to get going with Troy.”

* WE GET THE PICTURE: Keith Byars, the running back who left the Philadelphia Eagles for the Miami Dolphins last summer, was asked to compare Coach Don Shula to his former coach, Rich Kotite.

“It’s like comparing peaches to, uh, plums,” he said.

When asked to explain plums, he admitted that he could have come up with a better analogy.

“Uh, I’m trying to think of another fruit,” he said. “You know, the one that makes you constipated.”

* GO FIGURE: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have not made a “Monday Night Football” appearance in nearly 10 years, a record NFL streak.

Four times this season, the Kansas City Chiefs have mounted second-half comebacks for victories. Three times, their quarterback was Dave Krieg.

Kosar had 67 plays written on his Dallas Cowboys’ wristband last week.

The Cowboys’ gift shop fielded 4,000 requests for a jersey with No. 18--Kosar’s new number.

With 16 yards, Boomer Esiason will become the NFL’s all-time passing leader, left-handed division.

The following players have scored their only touchdowns of the season against the Rams: Mark Clayton, Anthony Newman, Mark Collins, David Mims, John Taylor, Michael McGruder.

Since storming off the field in Dallas and complaining that he wasn’t seeing enough passes, Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers has caught 23 in three games for 390 yards and six touchdowns.

* NOT THAT A LOT OF KICKERS WON’T BE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THIS PLAN: In a move symbolic of his No. 97, Chris Zorich of the Chicago Bears will deliver food to 97 homes on Chicago’s South Side during Thanksgiving week.

Warren Moon decided against a similar gesture, and will instead work at a mission feeding 1,500 families.

Perhaps it’s because Moon wears No. 1.