The last time the Giants and the Patriots played, New England defensive tackle Vince Wilfork went “Moe” on New York running back Brandon Jacobs, jamming a finger through Jacobs’ face mask and toward his eye. 

Though the incident didn’t result in an actual poke of the white squishy thing through which Jacobs sees, the attempt will contribute to Jacobs’ motivation for the rematch in a little game known as the Super Bowl.

“I’m excited about it,” Jacobs told the Newark Star-Ledger on Thursday.  “I couldn’t tell you whether Vince wanted to do that or he just wanted to point and didn’t realize his hand was that close.  I don’t want to go out and cost my team a major penalty because that’s not what I’m about.  But it’s going to bring a little more fire to me.”

But Jacobs won’t be looking to stick a finger in Wilfork’s eye, and not just because of his eye’s close proximity to his mouth.  If Jacobs was able to restrain himself at the time, he’ll definitely be able to do it when they meet again.

“Yeah, I was upset at the time, but I was cool about it,” Jacobs said.  “He attempted and he didn’t get it done.  That helps me out a lot that I didn’t retaliate.”

Wilfork was fined $15,000 for the incident.  We argued that the penalty should have been stiffer.