How do you top the atmospheres of the first two games of Penn State’s four-year series with Akron Pitt? Put the next one under the lights and on national television, and let fans tailgate for the entire day.

The Nittany Lions and Panthers will meet at 8 p.m. at Heinz Field in a nationally televised broadcast on ABC. The September 8 matchup will be the first time the new leg of the renewed rivalry will be played in primetime.

There were rumblings about a night kickoff last month when the Pittsburgh Pirates rescheduled their 7 p.m. game against the Miami Marlins to earlier in the day “to allow the University of Pittsburgh to schedule its gridiron clash with Penn State University at night.”

The two teams have split the first two meetings, with Pitt winning a 42-39 heartbreaker thriller in 2016 at Heinz Field and Penn State rolling to a 33-14 win at Beaver Stadium. The four-year series is scheduled to end in 2019 but Pitt athletic director Heather Lyke has said Sandy Barbour has yet to answer her proposals to renew the series.