When Pitt linebacker Scott McKillop thinks of Pitt and Navy, he thinks of Tony Dorsett and Roger Staubach. No surprise there, but it's not what you might imagine. McKillop wasn't close to being born when Pitt's Dorsett broke the NCAA rushing record at Navy in 1976 or when Navy's Staubach won the Heisman Trophy in '63. When he thinks of Dorsett and Staubach, he thinks only of embarrassment.

His.

The Pitt defense's.

"They brought in those guys for the game [against Navy last season at Heinz Field]," McKillop said this week. "It was a national television game. There was a big audience. It was another chance for us to establish ourselves as a program. We wanted to make Tony proud. But we didn't show up. We couldn't stop them. We were terrible."

That 48-45 Pitt loss in double overtime was the low point of the Dave Wannstedt era, at least until the home debacle against Bowling Green in the opening game this season. Navy had the ball for 84 plays, ran for 331 yards, had 497 yards of offense and punted just one time. That abysmal Pitt performance followed losses in which its defense gave up 44 points to Virginia and 34 to Connecticut. There was a public outcry for defensive coordinator Paul Rhoads to be fired and to take Wannstedt with him.

Who knew that horrible October night would be the turning point?

For the Pitt defense in general and for McKillop in particular?

Pitt pitched a shutout in the second half of a 24-17 win against No. 23 Cincinnati the next week. The defense played well the rest of the season -- blame three Pitt interceptions for a 48-37 loss to South Florida -- and was especially lights out in The Miracle in Morgantown Dec. 1 when it held the terrific West Virginia offense to 183 yards and one touchdown.

"We just regrouped as a defense," McKillop said. "Everyone counted us out, but we knew we weren't as bad as we played against Navy."

McKillop was all over the field against Cincinnati and had 16 tackles. He made the big stop on West Virginia running back Steve Slaton on a late fourth-and-3 play in that 13-9 stunner. He wound up leading the country in tackles and made a variety of All-America teams.

Dorsett could be proud.

Darn right.

"I'm sure I overachieved compared to everyone's expectations -- the coaches', the media's, even mine," McKillop said.

"The honors were nice, but we finished 5-7. That's all that mattered. Seeing teams that we beat -- Cincinnati and West Virginia -- playing in bowl games made me sick to my stomach."

Provided a lot of motivation, too.

"The year I came to Pitt, we won the Big East and went to the Fiesta Bowl," said McKillop, a redshirt that '04 season, Pitt's most recent winning season. "I'd love to go out the same way."

Pitt's defense is playing well enough for that to happen, although it surely will be tested today by Navy's funky triple-option offense in the rematch on homecoming in Annapolis, Md. That awful 27-17 loss to Bowling Green? Put it on four Pitt turnovers. The defense was especially effective in the 26-21 win at No. 10 South Florida Oct. 2, holding the Bulls to 245 yards and two offensive touchdowns.

McKillop has been even better than last season. That goes back to the long, cold winter when he put in the tough hours, not just to build on his big junior season but to impress new defensive coordinator Phil Bennett, who took over for Rhoads, who left for Auburn. "I had to prove myself all over again," McKillop said.

Man, has he.

McKillop again leads the Big East in tackles and tackles for losses. He has made all of the dot.com mid-season All-America teams and has been a three-time Big East Defensive Player of the Week, most recently for his play at South Florida. His primary job that night was to shadow superb quarterback Matt Grothe; he had 12 tackles and two sacks. "If he went to the bathroom," McKillop said, "I went to the bathroom."

Hey, providing valuable information is what we do here.

The phenomenal production should get McKillop a long look from the NFL. He's not as big as you would like -- he seems generously listed at 6-foot-2, 240 pounds -- but how do you ignore all of those tackles? Those instincts? The football smarts?

The smarts, period, actually.

McKillop already has a Pitt degree in business-marketing and is working on a second in administration of justice. He'll go after an MBA with the same enthusiasm he went after Grothe if the NFL thing doesn't work out.

"I'd love to make it to the next level," McKillop said. "I'm sure people will doubt me, but I've always been doubted. That's just extra motivation for me."

But that's down the road.

McKillop is thinking about just one thing today.

"That triple option," he said.

It's hard to imagine Navy quarterback Kaipo-Noa Kaheaku-Enhada running for 122 yards and a touchdown and throwing for 166 yards and two touchdowns the way he did last season against Pitt. It's hard to imagine burly fullback Eric Kettani torching Pitt for 72 more yards.

Really, it's hard to imagine the Pitt defense not showing up again.

McKillop won't stand for it.

"I can't wait to play them again," he said, biting off the words.

Makes you think it might be Staubach's turn to be embarrassed by a loss.