Thursday night, under the lights.That’s how the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants will open the 2008 season.

The NFL announced Thursday that the Giants will take on division rivals, the Washington Redskins, at home, in front of a national audience on September 4.

NBC has the game slated for an 8:30 pm start, but are considering moving it to 7:00 p.m. so it doesn’t conflict with the Republican National Convention.

A league source tells me that NFL and NBC executives are very happy with this match-up. It will be Jim Zorn’s first time as a head coach on the sidelines, and the kickoff to the New York Giants post-Super Bowl season.

Last season, the two teams each picked up a win in the series.  The Giants making a huge comeback at Washington in Week 3 (24-17) and the Redskins thumping the G-Men (22-10) in Week 15.

The Redskins victory was one of passion.  It was just three weeks after Sean Taylor’s tragic death and the locker room was buzzing with excitement.  After the game, I spoke with several Redskins, including Clinton Portis and Joe Gibbs, who both told me they’ve never been on a team with so much emotion.

Washington won four games to end the season, but lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Seattle Seahawks.  I expect them to come out fighting hard after last season, making the NFC East an even tougher division than it already is.

The rest of the Giants’ schedule will be announced later this month. It’s expected that they’ll take on Atlanta, Carolina, Oakland and San Diego at home. On the road, they’ll face off against New Orleans, Denver, Tampa Bay and Kansas City. One more NFC West and one more NFC North team will also be thrown into the home and away mix.  That’s to go with the usual division games.