ALLEN PARK >> Great sports moments are born from the unexpected.

But great rivalries? They’re rooted in two sides being just so predictable.

The third annual meeting between Detroit Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and Dallas Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis was always destined to contain some banter. This time around, there’s a little more spice to it than the previous iterations after St. Brown went on “The Pivot Podcast” in July to call Lewis out as one of the game’s craziest trash talkers.

Asked who his least favorite defensive back to play against is, St. Brown said, “One guy that comes to mind is Jourdan Lewis, I think is his name, from the Cowboys.”

“I don’t talk much unless someone’s gonna talk to me. I block hard, I do all that. But he was talking crazy, like some s— I’ve never heard before,” St. Brown said on the podcast. “I’m like, ‘Yo, hold on.’ I’m gonna have to go hard. … He was talking crazy out of pocket.”

St. Brown continued, “I don’t know what he’s saying. I’m trying to make plays, win the game; I’m not worried about him. But once he started talking like that, I said, ‘All right, if I do get a chance to (get) him, I’m gonna (get) him.’”

Lewis, a Detroit native who starred at Cass Tech and was a two-time All-American at Michigan, claimed earlier this week that he doesn’t remember what he said to St. Brown.

“Sometimes I just black out, just go somewhere else with it,” Lewis said, according to The Athletic. “But if I said anything disrespectful, I’d probably say it again.”

If you watched the Cowboys’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, none of this is surprising. Lewis went at it with Steelers wide receiver George Pickens all night, including after Lewis recovered a fumble on the final play to seal a 20-17 win. While jawing at Pickens following the fumble recovery, Pickens grabbed Lewis’ face mask and yanked him to the grass.

As Lewis exited Sunday’s game, he was videotaped saying, “Pittsburgh need a receiver. George Pickens weak.”

“I shouldn’t have said that, honestly, coming out,” Lewis said earlier this week when asked what prompted him to call Pickens out in the tunnel. “It was an emotional game, we were going back and forth all game, and there was some chatter on the field, but one thing led to another. He had a moment, I had a moment. It was too emotional, shouldn’t have said it.”

Pickens’ response on the final play of the game is an indicator that whatever Lewis is saying out there, it’s working. For St. Brown, the goal then becomes to block out the noise and render his trash talk ineffective, but that’s easier said than done.

Over the last couple of seasons, Lewis has been a thorn in the side of Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Lewis has intercepted a pass in each of the Cowboys’ last two meetings with Detroit, in 2022 and 2023.

Lewis has also been one of the best slot corners in all of football this season. He’s been targeted 20 times in coverage and has allowed just 14 catches for 86 yards for an opponent passer rating of 78.3.

According to St. Brown, trash talk doesn’t get in his head. It makes him play better.

In the controversial finish between Dallas and Detroit last season, St. Brown caught six passes for 90 yards and scored a touchdown with 23 seconds left that gave the Lions a shot at the lead before Taylor Decker’s 2-point conversion was called back. St. Brown was pulled by a concussion spotter after just one catch in the 2022 game, a 24-6 Cowboys victory.

St. Brown was targeted with Lewis in coverage twice in last year’s meeting and caught one pass for 11 yards.

“I typically don’t get too involved. I might say something back a little, but for the most part, it just fires me up, gets me going, so I love it. I usually don’t say the first word, but if someone’s talking to me, it just fires me up,” St. Brown said. “I feel like some games, you’re out there just playing ball, and then someone fires you up. You’re like, ‘OK, let’s go,’ and it kind of gets you going for the rest of the game.”

Lewis was a four-star recruit coming out of Cass Tech in 2013 and compiled an excellent college resume at Michigan. He was named Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year in 2016 and was a first-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten selection in 2015 and 2016.

In the 2017 NFL Draft, Lewis was selected in the third round, 92nd overall, by the Cowboys.

For those wondering, Lewis’ Detroit roots didn’t make him a Lions fan.

“Honestly? They weren’t that good,” Lewis said. “I mean, it’s definitely different there. That might be a sound bite, but they definitely are a different team.”

Lewis is happy for the city that it finally has a formidable football team that matches its identity — just not this Sunday.

“I mean, it’s amazing for the city,” Lewis said. “The brand of football that they’re playing definitely embodies everything Detroit is, so I’m happy they’re playing like that.

“But at the same time, I want to destroy it.”