Rush said: "The season is ending too soon for Michael, I still can't believe he was actually getting some stick earlier in the year. He's better than ever, he has improved so much.
"The game will be decided by the form of the strikers. Everton possess an obvious threat but the heartening thing from a Liverpool point of view was the performance of Michael Owen against Fulham last week.
"He was superb and proved he's getting better with every game. Derby matches are all about the big-game players. If they produce the goods then their team's chances of winning drastically improve.
"And generally there's no-one in the country with a more impressive record than Michael Owen when it comes to producing the goods when it really matters.
"Not only is he scoring goals but his link-up play is superb."