PITTSBURGH — The players staggered off the field at Notre Dame Stadium last year with weary grins, too exhausted to offer up a full-blown smiles.
Inside, the Pitt Panthers were shifting through a flood of emotions:
The joy of outlasting Notre Dame, 36-33 in four overtimes, was euphoric. The shame of a 41-21 bashing suffered at the hands of the Irish in 2005 still was hung on the Panthers like a sack of dirty laundry.
“That was the game that got us over the hump,” Pittsburgh coach Dave Wannstedt said recently. “To go into that stadium and play a game that will be remembered forever, the longest game in Notre Dame Stadium, and keep getting after it and come away with the win, that was when we really started to believe in each other.”
If the 21-point loss in 2005 showed Wannstedt and the Panthers how far they had to go, then last year showed them how much they had achieved. And tonight (8:00, ABC) the Panthers can show themselves, and the nation, that they are capable of accomplishing more.
Pitt (8-1), ranked No. 8 in the AP poll and ninth by the Post, plays host to a Notre Dame team that is searching for a reason to believe in itself.
The Irish (6-3) are coming off a 23-21 loss to Navy that eliminated them from BCS contention and left the staff sniping at the Midshipmen.
Associate head coach Corwin Brown accused Navy receiver Nick Henderson of a malicious hit on Irish cornerback Robert Blanton.
Brown leveled the charge on Veterans Day.
Brown also took umbrage over Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo’s postgame comments that questioned the Irish’s defensive game plan.
Panthers prowling. Irish scrambling.
“I think I’m worried more about the kids, that’s what I’m worrying more about than anything else,” said Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis. “You’ve got a bunch of 18- to 22-year-old kids that after a loss go to class and everyone says: ‘Hey, what happened?’ ”
The players aren’t the only ones asking that question.