PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pat Narduzzi was kidding. Mostly anyway.

Asked what it means when No. 23 Pittsburgh hosts No. 9 Notre Dame on Saturday, the longtime Panthers coach did a little math and then offered a somewhat tongue-in-cheek response.

“I would gladly get beat 103 or 110-10 in that game,” Narduzzi said. “They can put 100 up on us as long as we win the next two after that.”

Casually saying he was OK if the Panthers lose by a video-game score is Narduzzi's typically idiosyncratic way of taking some of the pressure off a team whose season threatened to careen out of control after back-to-back losses to end September.

All Pitt has done in the interim is rip off five straight behind true freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel, which is why, regardless of the outcome at Acrisure Stadium

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