PITTSBURGH — Mike Wallace kept waiting for things to get better. Kept thinking at some point the Pittsburgh Steelers would turn it around.

Yet as the minutes passed, the turnovers piled up — seven in all — and the Baltimore Ravens savored every last second of their 35-7 whipping of the defending AFC champions in the season opener, the wide receiver and the rest of his teammates could do little more than sit there and take it.

“No question it still hurts,” Wallace said.

And no question two months later the Steelers consider the beatdown a gift.

Heading into Sunday’s rematch at Heinz Field, Wallace points to Baltimore’s raucous celebration as the wake-up call needed to shake the Steelers out of their post-Super Bowl stupor.

“It kind of made us see where we were,” Wallace said. “Everybody said it was over for us.”

Hardly.

Pittsburgh (6-2) has ripped off four straight wins and sits atop the AFC North while the Ravens (5-2) have been uneven at best. If they’re not crushing the Steelers or the Jets they’re losing to Jacksonville and Tennessee and struggling to rally past Arizona.

Yet a win on Sunday would give the Ravens a season sweep over their rivals for the first time since 2006 and put them on the inside track to win the division title.

“I look at it like we’ve got to win because they’re not going to lose again if they beat us,” Steelers linebacker Larry Foote said.

If the Steelers didn’t like the way the Ravens enjoyed the opener, odds are they’re not going to like what happens late Sunday night if Baltimore does it again.

Not that the Ravens care. Not after the Steelers knocked them out of the playoffs in two of the last three seasons.

“We remember how they partied after they won the AFC championship twice,” linebacker Terrell Suggs said. “In 2008, we remember seeing them party. And last year after they beat us, we remember seeing them party. We don’t really care. ... If you win the game, I guess you get to celebrate how you want to.”

While players on both sides have done a pretty good job of downplaying the impact of the opener, Suggs just can’t help himself.

There’s no team he enjoys beating more than the Steelers. He considers Heinz Field his version of Madison Square Garden and joked he “owned” Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger after sacking him three times in the opener.

Looking back, Suggs figures maybe he went overboard. But only a little.

“No man owns anybody but if there is anybody that can bring him down by themselves, it’s definitely me,” Suggs said.

The Steelers stress, however, they’re hardly the same team that looked overmatched and outmanned on Sept. 11.

The restructured offensive line has found some consistency after early season injury issues, Wallace has continued his evolution into one of the league’s top receivers and the defense is back to its usual dominant self, holding New England and quarterback Tom Brady to 213 yards in a 25-17 win last week.

All positive developments to be sure. All of which will mean nothing if the Steelers back down on national television.

More stunning than the score in Baltimore’s romp in the opener is the way the Ravens won. They punished the Steelers for 60 minutes, pushing Pittsburgh around in ways few teams have over the last five decades.

If the Steelers are to push back, they’ll likely have to do it with a patchwork linebacker corps. Stars James Harrison (eye), James Farrior (calf) and LaMarr Woodley (hamstring) are all questionable, leaving Lawrence Timmons as the sole healthy starter.

Coach Mike Tomlin insists he isn’t desperate, but he also didn’t rule out abandoning the team’s 3-4 defense to go to a 4-3 scheme or with a big nickel package that treats safety Troy Polamalu like an extra linebacker.

Such a drastic makeover is unlikely. Besides there are no real secrets between two teams so familiar with each other in a rivalry that’s among the league’s most heated.

“We know the way they play; they know the way we play,” Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis said. “We know they’re going to try to get (Wallace) on a deep ball behind us. There (are) no secrets with us. Whether they try or not, we’re prepared for it.”

Even if a scheduling quirk has the two teams who have combined to win the AFC North seven times since it was formed in 2002 done with their season series a few days after Halloween.

All it means, really, is the playoffs are starting two months ahead of schedule, even if it’s just for a night.

“That’s the beauty of, I think, their season and our season,” Lewis said. “We have to do what we have to do. But to get them out of the way in the first half of the season, why not get it on?”

And hope the referees keep the flags in their pockets.

In an era where fines are handed out for what used to be considered the cost of doing business, both teams are well aware their pocketbooks could take a hit if things get a little out of hand. Suggs would rather the referees just let them be football players.

“We are the two most physical teams in the NFL, and we are the only two teams that can play each other like that,” Suggs said. “When other teams try to come and do that, it doesn’t fare so well. We are so similar. They are our enemy, but even enemies can show respect. We do respect those guys over there. They are a good football team, but so are we.

“Let us play football,” Suggs said. “Let us all go in the room and lock the door.”