THE OPENER What: Notre Dame at Pitt. When: 8 p.m. Saturday. Where: Heinz Field. TV/Radio: WTAE/WPGB-FM (104.7), WBGG-AM (970) and the Panthers Radio Network. The skinny: Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt and Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis make debuts.

Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko swears that if the Panthers beat Notre Dame Saturday he won't have a repeat performance of his postgame interview at Notre Dame last season.

Palko drew some criticism last year for using an expletive during a nationally televised sideline interview after the Panthers last-second 41-38 win against the Irish.

Since then he said he hasn't heard the end of it, but most of it has been all in good fun.

"It is a big joke now as it should be," Palko said yesterday. "I made a mistake. I guess I found out my routine for postgame interviews will be to shower and cool down first then do the interviews after I cool down because I guess I have trouble controlling my emotions after a game like that."

Palko was then asked if he had his mouth washed out with soap as punishment for the incident.

"My grandma has told me probably 37 times about my mouth and she always said it would get me in trouble some day. She did tell me I needed to wash my mouth out [with soap]," he said with a laugh.

Palko confident in receivers

A bigger issue than Palko's choice of words this Saturday will be who catches his passes. The Panthers' receivers struggled through most of camp and at times crippled the passing game. Palko said the receivers, particularly the four who will see the bulk of the playing time -- Greg Lee, Joe Delsardo, Marcel Pestano and Derek Kinder -- have played well the past week or so.

"I'm not going to say they are going to play scared but I'm also not going to say they are going to go tear it up," Palko said. "That is up to them. They worked their tails off to get into those four positions and Saturday night we will see how good they are."

Quick outs

Defensive tackle Thomas Smith (knee) returned to practice yesterday but wasn't able to go full speed. "He's going to work today and we're going to keep a close eye on him. The intention is he will play and we want to ease him into it and see how he responds. We'll take it day by day," Wannstedt said. ... Linebacker Clint Session (knee) did not practice. ... Fans in Pittsburgh can see the ADT National Championship Trophy (the crystal football awarded to the national champion) up close at the U.S. Steel Tower from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Friday and again outside Heinz Field from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Saturday. The trophy weighs 37 pounds and is valued at $30,000.