I have no problem with playing Pitt. If they can get a home-and-home with Pitt and still get seven home games and still do all the things that are going to have to be done ...

-- Joe Paterno

The Pitt-Penn State football rivalry has been in hibernation since the end of the 2000 season, with no serious discussions about renewing the once-heated series.

Penn State coach Joe Paterno has repeatedly balked at the idea of playing the Panthers, making it clear that if the 96-year-old series does resume, Pitt would have to do it on Penn State's terms.

Yesterday, Paterno was asked during his weekly news conference if he would be in favor of playing Pitt on a six-and-four basis -- six home games for the Nittany Lions and four away -- over a 10-year period.

"I think that's [athletic director] Tim Curley's call," Paterno said. "I think if we could play Pitt on the terms that would be good ... you guys don't realize that when I first came here [in 1950], we didn't play Pitt but more than three times in 15 years [at University Park].

"I have no problem with playing Pitt. If they can get a home-and-home with Pitt and still get seven home games and still do all the things that are going to have to be done, I think it would probably be good."

Curley did not return a call seeking comment.

The Pitt-Penn State series started in 1893. The Lions hold a 50-42-4 edge despite dropping the finale, 12-0, to the Panthers seven years ago.

Paterno has never gotten over the fact Pitt joined the Big East Conference in basketball in 1982 instead of joining Penn State in an eastern all-sports conference.

The Lions eventually joined the Big Ten in 1993. Seven years later, the Pitt series was ended.

Penn State, which is required to play eight Big Ten games each season, does have home-and-home series with non-conference foes Syracuse in 2008 and 2009, Alabama in 2010 and 2011, Virginia in 2012 and 2013 and Nebraska in 2014 and 2015.

But Curley and Fran Ganter, the associate athletic director for football administration, also have added lower-caliber teams such as Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State and Eastern Michigan.

The 12th-ranked Lions have crushed out-manned Florida International, 59-0, this season. Lowly Buffalo, a 34-point underdog, pays a visit to Beaver Stadium at noon Saturday.

Penn State closed out its home-and-home series with Notre Dame last weekend, winning 31-10. The Lions are 9-9-1 against the Irish.

"The football world right now is really in flux," Paterno said. "Does the Big Ten go to 12 teams? Does it go to a round robin? There's a lot of things being discussed that will have some bearing on who we're going to play.

"We're under a tremendous amount of pressure in the sense that people say, 'Play your old rivalries.' So we got Syracuse. We haven't played Syracuse in a long time. When we scheduled Syracuse, they had just come off a 10-2 year and they had a Penn State kid coaching up there, Paul Pasqualoni. So that looked like a good arrangement.

"Some people said, 'Why don't you play Nebraska?' And now we've got Nebraska on our schedule in the future. That's the way it goes."

NOTES -- Paterno feels for embattled Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, whose team is 0-2 and has become a national laughingstock. "He's a tough guy," Paterno said. "He'll be fine. He's got some good football players. Things haven't gone his way, but I think when all is said and done, Lloyd Carr will be OK. He doesn't need me." ... Cornerback Justin King from Gateway High School said his shoulder, which he injured following a fourth-quarter interception against Notre Dame, is "a little sore," but he expects to start against Buffalo. ... Backup defensive tackle Abe Koroma likely will miss another three to four weeks with a broken foot. ... Another backup defensive tackle, Tom McEowen, has been practicing with a knee brace and could return soon. McEowen has been out with a tore right anterior cruciate ligament that happened in winter conditioning workouts. ... Starting right guard John Shaw has been bothered by a minor knee injury, Paterno said. ... Backup guard Lou Eliades is questionable for the Buffalo game with a concussion that forced him to sit out against Notre Dame. ... Derrick Williams and Deon Butler have been named to the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award, presented to the nation's top receiver.