As Pat Naruzzi channel surfed through college football action on Saturday night and his 23rd-ranked Pitt Panthers enjoyed a bye week, the powers that be were finalizing a decision which would set the local football scene on fire for at least a week.

The rumors swirling eventually became fact with a mid-afternoon announcement on Sunday — ESPN’s “College GameDay” would, for the first time in 20 years, air a full-length edition of the program from Acrisure Stadium ahead of a collision between the surging Panthers and No. 9 Notre Dame. The eyes of the college football world will settle on Pittsburgh’s North Shore on Saturday for the national television broadcast of a game with significant College Football Playoff implications, but Narduzzi wanted to downplay the stakes on Monday afternoon.

See Full Page