Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman and Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi are two different people, and they are certainly both taking different approaches to Saturday’s top-25 showdown in the Steel City.

“Yesterday, somebody texted me ‘this is a trap game’, ” remarked Freeman. “I said, ‘this is not a trap game. This is a challenge. This is a real challenge, a great challenge. We have to understand the challenge we have ahead of us on Saturday and use this as a reminder to prepare the right way.”

Meanwhile, Narduzzi, who has long held a grudge against Notre Dame for not fully joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, is downplaying the matchup.

“It’s not an ACC game,” countered the Pitt coach when asked if Saturday was a must win. “I’m glad you brought that up. It’s not an ACC game. I’d gladly get beat 103 or 110 to 10 in that game. They could put 100 up on us as long as we win the next two after that.”

Indeed, Pitt does not need the Notre Dame win to make the College Football Playoff. The Panthers still have conference games with Miami and SMU, and wins in those games would likely put the Panthers in the ACC championship game. As long as the ACC is among the five highest-ranked conference champions, the league winner gets into the CFP.

Narduzzi also downplayed the first visit for ESPN’s College Game Day to Pittsburgh in 20 years.

“It’s great for the city of Pittsburgh, it’s great for the University of Pittsburgh,” noted Narduzzi. “In here though, we’re insulated. It’s just a game.”

The game pits two of the top ten scoring offenses in the nation against each other, remarkably with both teams being led by freshmen quarterbacks…C.J. Carr for Notre Dame and Mason Heintschel for Pitt.  In this case, Narduzzi sounded more wary about his quarterback than Freeman.

“He’s got to be smart, but he’s also got to take chances too,” said Narduzzi of Heintschel. “I don’t want to get him to that point where he doesn’t make that great throw because coach told [him] to protect the football.”

On the other hand, Freeman noted Carr’s growing ability to read defenses.

“He’s just got to be able to adjust to some different looks,” says Freeman. “I think teams at the end of the day are still saying ‘We can;t allow Notre Dame to run the football, because that’s detrimental.’ That’s where CJ has got to continuously recognize what the defense is telling you, because there’s tells. There’s always tells.”

Saturday’s game is set for a noon kickoff on ABC. Hear more about the matchup on Notre Dame Federal Credit Union’s “Irish Football Fix” Monday night at 7 on Pulse FM (103.1)