BRIEFLY : JONES SAYS SWITZER IS THE COACH TO STAY.

Dismiss the rumors Barry Switzer is in his last year as coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Look for him to be around well into the next century.

``Rubbish,'' is what owner Jerry Jones called reports of Switzer being a goner.

``Barry Switzer is more vital today than he was when he got here three years ago,'' Jones said Tuesday. ``I think of Barry Switzer coaching the Cowboys 10 years from now. He is my coach and my only coach for a long time to come.''

Jones fueled the rumors himself when he said he wasn't adding another year to Switzer's five-year rollover contract. Instead, he was just letting it run. Jones admitted that was a mistake from a perception standpoint.

``I'm not talking about rollovers,'' Jones said. ``I'm not biting that cheese any more. . . . (The rollovers) are not appropriate for how I feel about Barry as a coach. He is more strongly entrenched than ever since he got here. He's longer and stronger.''

Since replacing Jimmy Johnson, Switzer has taken the Cowboys to an NFC championship game loss to San Francisco and a Super Bowl win over Pittsburgh. The Cowboys have stumbled out of the gate with a 1-2 record this season.

The New Orleans Saints are 0-3, yet owner Tom Benson remains convinced the season can be turned around and coach Jim Mora is the man to do it.

``Right now, the coach is the coach and the players are the players,'' Benson said. ``We're not going to change our quarterback, we're not going to change our coach and we're not going to change the owner.''

Montreal Alouettes owner Jim Speros has met three times with a senior NFL official in recent weeks to discuss some type of investment in the CFL starting next season.

The NFL, however, says it's nothing more than the kind of routine talks they have with many suitors and all but ruled out any affiliation that early, if at all.

Arizona coach Vince Tobin has made Kent Graham his starting quarterback ahead of Boomer Esiason.

Rowdy fans at Three Rivers Stadium toppled a 4-foot-high cement wall during the Pittsburgh Steelers' 24-6 win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday. Several large chunks of the 26-year-old wall fell more than 25 feet to the artificial turf in the south end zone during the fourth quarter.

Security guards in yellow jackets stepped between the fans and the just-created ledge, and ABC-TV broadcast pictures of the damage to a national television audience. No one was injured.

``It was basically an act of vandalism,'' Three Rivers general manager Jim Sacco said. ``The fans were over excited, and they just kicked it in. They were just pretty wound up with `Monday Night Football' and everything.''

NBA 

John Stockton, forsaking millions of dollars to finish his career in Utah, has agreed to a three-year, $15 million contract with the Jazz. The team said Tuesday the 34-year-old All-Star guard is to sign when he arrives in Utah for the start of training camp on Oct. 5.

The value of the contract is millions below what Stockton could have made on the open market. But Stockton has said money is less important to him than other considerations. The Jazz did not disclose terms of the contract but The Salt Lake Tribune and Desert News reported it at $15 million.

Kenny Smith, a nine-year NBA veteran who was part of two championship teams with the Houston Rockets, signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Pistons.

Aleksandar Djordjevic, who helped Yugoslavia win a silver medal at the Atlanta Olympics, said he will sign a contract with the Portland Trail Blazers next week.

ETC.

Memorial services for longtime sports columnist Allan Malamud will be held Thursday at 1 p.m. at Hillside Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Malamud, who was 54, died in his downtown apartment on Monday, apparently of natural causes, police said. The services will be open to the public.

Malamud's brother, Lloyd, asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the City of Hope in Duarte. . . . Olympic gold medalist Alvin Harrison was released on bail following his arrest on charges of assaulting a towing service security guard with a car in Salinas. . . . Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Conchita Martinez, ranked second and third in the world, respectively, will lead Spain in the defense of its Fed Cup title when it plays the United States on Sept. 28-29 in Atlantic City, N.J.

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Photo

Photo: Barry Switzer should be the Cowboys' coach for the n ext ``10 years'' according to Jerry Jones.

Associated Press