Pittsburgh Panthers vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Saturday, 8 ET, ABC, GamePlan

This isn't a conference game, but don't tell the Pittsburgh Panthers that their latest confrontation in the 2009 season is relatively unimportant.

If any word accurately characterizes the goal of this forward-charging program situated in the land of Three Rivers, it’s respect. Pitt football used to be a Very Big Deal, in capital letters, during the years knitted together by superstars such as Tony Dorsett, Hugh Green, and Dan Marino. Once a powerhouse in the sport from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, Pitt football fell off the map for nearly two decades, enjoyed a brief flicker of fleeting fame during a 2004 run to the Fiesta Bowl, and has since failed to capture the imagination - and, moreover, the trust - of its fan base.

Now, that identity might be about to change. Finally, there appears to be a real chance that Pitt could be more of a pleaser than a teaser, more an imposer than a mere poser. As 2009 heads toward the stretch run, the Panthers might have the stuff needed to make a bold kick for the finish line.

And what team, pray tell, stands in Pitt's way on the beginning of a road to renewed stature in the football community? None other than college football's biggest brand name, Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish might be reeling in the wake of their loss to Navy, which took them out of the running for a BCS bowl, but Pittsburgh won't care. The Panthers know that this split-national game (most of the nation will see this game on ABC; a much smaller segment will get Texas Tech-Oklahoma State in the same time window) offers the program a huge chance to move up the ladder and become more of a grownup on the gridiron.

Pittsburgh has staggered and struggled, wavered and wobbled, in big games from seasons past. Although Notre Dame's absence from the BCS bowl derby (the Irish still had a chance before their loss to Navy) makes this game slightly less attractive on a national stage, it's still quite the proving ground for a Panther club that will only face even bigger battles once the Irish come and go. After Notre Dame, Pitt tackles West Virginia and then Cincinnati, in the two games that will decide this year's Big East champion. If the Panthers want to face the Mountaineers and Bearcats with a fresh supply of self-belief, they'll need to use this non-conference stage to max out and knock the Fighting Irish into next Tuesday.

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The reality of a non-league Saturday showdown could very well enable coach Dave Wannstedt's ballclub to be even more liberated this weekend, when the Notre Dame road show comes to the Steel City. Wannstedt can only hope that's the case. Precisely because the Big East crown is connected to their performance against WVU and Cincy, the Panthers are - in a certain sense - playing with house money against Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, and the rest of a high-powered Irish offense. This isn't a pressure-free game, mind you, but it's not as central to the fate of Pitt's season as the following two games will be. This is an occasion in which Bill Stull, Dion Lewis, Jonathan Baldwin, and the Panthers' offense need to upstage the skill position studs who will oppose them at Heinz Field. If Pitt can land the roundhouse blows in this battle, and take all the fight out of the Irish in convincing fashion, a really good 8-1 team will turn into a 9-1 squad that could very well crack the top 10 in next week's national rankings.

Yes, this game isn't quite as significant as the post-Thanksgiving Day portion of their schedule, but the Pitt Panthers still have a lot to play for against the New York Yankees of college football.

It's time for Dave Wannstedt's team to put on its big boy pants against big-time foes. It's time for gridiron glory to be attained with two-fisted totality. All that's left is for the Panthers to pounce on one very big opportunity on national television.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer