PITTSBURGH — A defendant says he pulled out a gun during an early morning confrontation last summer because he hoped it would make the other party back down.

But 22-year-old Isiah Smith says the other party “called his bluff” and that led to the Aug. 3 shooting outside the Original Hot Dog Shop in Pittsburgh.

Smith is charged with criminal homicide in the death of 24-year-old Zachary Sheridan, a former football star at Slippery Rock University, near the popular late-night Pittsburgh eatery.

Defense attorney Blaine Jones says his client was defending himself during the confrontation between two groups of people.

Allegheny County prosecutors, however, say Smith told Pittsburgh police at least three different versions of what occurred that night.

Closing arguments in the case are scheduled today.

Sheridan was a middle linebacker for SRU and the team’s captain. He played until 2011.