San Francisco 49ers cornerback Tarell Brown talked to Sky Sports ahead of their huge NFC Championship game against the New York Giants on Sunday, when they will battle it out for a place in Super Bowl XLVI.

27-year-old Brown has enjoyed a superb first full season as the starting cornerback for the 49ers, having started all 17 games so far as the team turned from 6-10 also-rans to divisional champions and on the verge of a surprising Super Bowl appearance.

Coach Jim Harbaugh has built a superb team in his first NFL season, and despite being written off almost all season they are among the last four standing - and they have home advantage as they play the red-hot New York Giants in Sunday's NFC Championship game.

"The whole team is excited, the city's excited and we have a tremendous opportunity in front of us and we look forward to taking advantage of it," Brown told Sky Sports.

"It was an exciting season because we were the underdogs all the way, any time a lot of people don't give you credit or overlook you as a team and you surprise people it's always a positive thing for us.

"It was really fun for me but it's not over yet - I've had a good year so far and I feel I've come into my own. The coaches have embraced me as a player and let me do what I do best and that's use my athletic ability out on the field."

Giant test

Brown hoping to add to interception total

The upsets kept on coming last week as a thrilling last-ditch touchdown saw the 49ers upset the in-form New Orleans Saints, and the high-flying Giants offer a similar challenge as their power-packed receiving core dumped champions Green Bay out in their own back yard last week.

"It's going to be exciting," added Brown, who as cornerback will have the unenviable task of trying to keep the likes of Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz quiet." Any time you go up against three top receivers who can all make huge plays then for us it's exciting. We've been doing a lot of film study trying to understand each player's strengths and weaknesses.

"It's the same type of attitude as against the Saints , those guys threw the ball a lot, I think 60-70 passes in the game and I think it'll be the same type of game so we'll need our cardio right up there and we need to go out and get our hands on those guys and really compete."

The Niners defence has taken most of the plaudits this year, with doubts still surrounding quarterback Alex Smith, but he proved his worth with a fine display against New Orleans including the game-winning TD throw right at the death.

"Our offence has been doing a great job for us week in and week out, they've been putting points on the board," Brown said. "Our job as a defence was to get the turnovers and get the ball back to our explosive offence, and we did that against the Saints.

"Alex has been doing an amazing job of taking command and being the leader on this team, taking command of this offence and I think he'll do the same thing this Sunday."

Turnaround

Few expected the 49ers to go on such a run this season, and former Texas Longhorn Brown credits coach Harbaugh for turning things around.

He said: "I think it comes down to our coach and for him bringing in the coaches he did and bringing the players together in this team. It's always a good thing when you have guys that really care about football and really want to succeed and want to be great and I feel like I'm around greatness right now, we've all got one common goal and we're all on the same page."

The Candlestick Park crowd could also play a big part too, and while the Giants picked off the champions last week and are on a real roll, the 49ers themselves have won four in a row including that pulsating shootout against the well-fancied Saints.

Home crowd could prove vital for 49ers

"I really don't feel like we're underdogs, people usually tell me we're the underdogs again but not this time," added Brown. "The biggest thing for us is to keep our composure on the field and be ready to play, definitely try to start as fast as possible and finish faster!

"It should be a great game and a great advert for football.

"Any time you have a big game like this with so much on the table the crowd will definitely be a factor, we're at home so the crowd will help us out a lot, we appreciate our fans for sticking by us through the up and down years, and it's amazing to have a football atmosphere like this."

Brown finished the season strongly personally, with five interceptions in his last five games, including one against the Saints last week, but he still thinks he has to work hard and wait for his chances.

"I don't really look at it like I'm on a hot run, I just look at it as going out to do my job and making the plays that come to me, if I have the opportunity to make an interception I'm definitely going to take advantage of that."