How in the world did the Pittsburgh Maulers make it to Saturday night’s USFL Championship Game?

With an offense that scored 12 touchdowns in 10 games, the Maulers posted a 4-6 record in the regular season, which would have put Pittsburgh last in the USFL South but was good enough to get into the postseason via a tiebreaker in the USFL North.

The Maulers advanced to the title game by beating the Michigan Panthers in the playoffs 31-27 in overtime one week ago. In its third loss of the year to Pittsburgh, Michigan fumbled going across the goal line on its first overtime attempt and got an illegal-shift penalty on its second.

On a three-game winning streak, the Maulers will square off against the Birmingham Stallions at 7 p.m. CDT Saturday at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio, to decide the USFL’s champion for the 2023 season. NBC will televise the game.

Birmingham won the USFL championship last year, has the league’s most potent offense this year behind USFL MVP Alex McGough and, after an 8-2 regular season, reached the title game by thumping the New Orleans Breakers 47-22 in the playoffs on Sunday night for its sixth consecutive victory.

The game appears to be a mismatch. But the Maulers didn’t talk that way at the media day for the USFL Championship Game on Friday.

“They’re great athletes that want to get better,” Pittsburgh coach Ray Horton said about his players. “They want the person in charge of them to get them better. They don’t care how, whether it’s giving them a hug, a pat on the back or a kick in the rear end. They don’t care. They just want you to get them better. That’s what we’re charged with is getting this team better. That’s what we’re charged with. And we have.

“Our best football is still in front of us. Birmingham better watch out. We’re ready to play. And I don’t care: ‘Oh, what’s he saying?’ We’re ready to play.”

The USFL South had a 13-3 record against the USFL North during the regular season – 11-1 after the first week of the season. The South’s victories include the Stallions’ 24-20 road win over Pittsburgh on May 7.

“We’re kind of like on a revenge tour right now,” said Maulers All-USFL linebacker Kyahva Tezino said on Friday. “We know who we are as a team. We know what we have. We know we’re good players, and we know they’re good players. But we know that they put their pants on the same way we do.”

Cornerback Mark Gilbert, another All-USFL selection for Pittsburgh, said the Maulers were “not the same team” that lost to Birmingham almost two months ago.

“We’re clicking right now,” Gilbert said. “The last time we played them, I felt like y’all seen spurts of what we were capable of. As you’ve seen as the season progressed, we’re an entirely different team on both sides of the ball, playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of swag.

“We see the narrative, but we don’t think we’re underdogs. We know that we’re meant to be here. We know we put the time and the work in to be here. We got all the confidence in the world that we’re going to go out there and do what we came here to do.”

Pittsburgh does bring the USFL’s No. 1 defense to the championship game. The Maulers yielded league-low averages of 17.8 points and 257.5 yards per game during the regular season.

“Everybody always talks about offense wins games, defense wins championships,” Stallions coach Skip Holtz said on Friday. “So how do you want to look at it? Is this a championship game or is this one game? If it’s one game, offense wins games. If it’s a championship, defense wins championships. …

“Just as important is our defense against their offense. It’s going to be a big part of this. So I think it’s got all the makings to be a great game, a game we’re really excited about. They’ve won three in a row. They’re playing with a lot of confidence right now. It’s going to be a great matchup.”

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.