Pitt began the season ranked No. 25 in The Associated Press poll but promptly got knocked out of the rankings by losing its opener to Bowling Green.

Since that loss, however, the Panthers have rebounded to win four consecutive games, including a 26-21 upset at then-No. 10 South Florida Thursday.

Pitt is ranked No. 24 in the latest AP poll, released yesterday, marking the first time the Panthers have been ranked in the season since 2004. The Panthers (4-1) also are listed in the "receiving votes" category (No. 33) in the latest USA Today poll.

Penn State (6-0), fresh off a 20-6 road win at Purdue, maintained its No. 6 ranking but gained 23 votes on No. 5 Texas (5-0). The Nittany Lions also are No. 6 in the USA Today poll.

The top five teams in the AP Poll are Oklahoma, Alabama, Missouri, LSU and Texas.

The Panthers also received some additional recognition in the wake of their big victory as middle linebacker Scott McKillop was named the Walter Camp Foundation National Defensive Player of the Week. McKillop had a team-high 12 solo tackles, two quarterback sacks, three tackles for losses and made a big stop on an attempted fake field goal by the Bulls.

South Florida entered the game averaging 464 yards of offense per game but managed only 245 against the McKillop-led Panthers defense. McKillop ranks third in NCAA Division I-A in solo tackles (7.4 per game) and 13th in total tackles (10.40 per game) and leads the Big East Conference in both categories.

The Panthers are off this week while Penn State will play at Wisconsin (3-2) Saturday night. The Badgers were Nos. 8 or 9 two weeks ago but have lost two in a row and have dropped out of the AP rankings and fell to No. 24 in the USA Today poll.