PITTSBURGH - As if the Backyard Brawl between Pitt and West Virginia weren't hot enough, the rivalry game will be played on Thanksgiving this year.

The Panthers' 2004 football schedule was revealed Tuesday, highlighted by six games at Heinz Field - including the Backyard Brawl - and at least four night games. The team could play as many as eight televised games.

The Backyard Brawl will be part of a Big East Conference Thanksgiving Day doubleheader with Connecticut at Rutgers. Both games are expected to be nationally televised on ESPN.

"We're excited about that game," Pitt athletic director Jeff Long said, "a game we hope is for the Big East title and to send a team to a BCS bowl."

Long said that playing on nontraditional nights has become a reality for the conference. For example, West Virginia will play two Wednesday games along with the Thursday night game against Pitt; Syracuse will play on a Sunday and Connecticut plays Boston College on a Friday night.

"We will all need to be more open to playing on different days, especially since we are negotiating with our television partners at ABC and ESPN," Long said. "But while television is important, we also have to weigh it carefully and make sure it makes sense."

Long noted that Friday night is traditionally reserved for high school football, so he would like to avoid games that night at all costs.

The Panthers will open their 11-game season at South Florida on Sept. 4. The home opener is Sept. 11 against Ohio University. Nebraska visits Heinz Field Sept. 18.

Pitt will fill the void created by the Big East departures of Miami and Virginia Tech with Division I-AA teams such as Furman on Sept. 25. Long said Pitt needs at least six home games for economic reasons.

"Doing this football schedule was the most frustrating and difficult tasks I've had to do in all my years in athletics," Long said.

The rest of the Panthers schedule is at Connecticut (Sept. 30), at Temple (Oct. 9), Boston College (Oct. 16), Rutgers (Oct. 23), at Syracuse (Nov. 6), and at Notre Dame (Nov. 13).