Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris knows something about the cliché “throwing the records out the window” for rivalry games.

On Harris’ way to becoming Alabama’s career rushing leader, the Crimson Tide faced Auburn four times. In 2017, Alabama won the CFP national championship but lost to Auburn. In 2019, Harris’ 10-1 Tide lost to the 8-3 Tigers.

On Sunday, Harris and the Steelers will square off against the Baltimore Ravens in a game that the running back said is the closest thing to a college rivalry in the NFL.

“I think so, most definitely,” Harris said. “I always have fun playing in it. Even if both teams aren’t even doing good, it’s always going to be a good rivalry, like Auburn and Alabama. Even if one team is not so good that game, both teams are 0-0, and it’s always just good on good.”

Both Pittsburgh and Baltimore are good this season, and with the Steelers at 7-2 and the Ravens at 7-3, the winner will be in first place in the AFC North.

“It’s a rivalry on the fact that, obviously, the history of both teams are, for the most part when I was watching, they’re both usually good teams,” Harris said. “And it’s always physical. It’s always good on good. It reminds me of when (Alabama) was playing LSU and they had all them boys — Joe Burrow and all them. And it was our team, I think it was ranked two, and they was ranked one. And it was always just play, man. Really, not too much down to the game plan. It’s just whoever wants it more. And that’s the physicality, the mindset that I always have.

“And I always will tell guys that this matchup is don’t really look at the score, but just worry about winning each play and if you lose one play, throw out the next one because the game can go either way, and it’s the fun part of this sport. When you’re playing across the ball and it’s other guys who are at the same level as you are, just in that same mindset as you, and at the end of the day, it’s the best man who wins.”

Harris said while the injection of Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson into the Steelers-Ravens rivalry might have tilted the rivalry into an era of more explosive offensive plays, one thing about the matchup remains constant through the years.

“What don’t change is the physicality,” Harris said. “What don’t change is the mindset of each game. We can have both prolific offenses, but it could be a game where it’s still 7-7, 0-0 going into the fourth quarter. And we’re still just trying to crawl out of there and just dig it out and fight it out. That’s what it is.”

After opening his NFL career with three 1,000-yard rushing seasons, Harris has run for 645 yards and three touchdowns on 157 carries in his fourth campaign. He also has 17 receptions for 152 yards in 2024.

Against Baltimore, Harris and the Steelers will face a defense that has yielded the most passing yards and the second-fewest rushing yards in the NFL during the 2024 season.

“Our job is to stay consistent,” Harris said. “We take what they can give us — the fives, the twos, the threes — and eventually one will pop. But that’s just how we can handle the run game and make sure we can get those bigger plays down the field.”

The Steelers and Ravens will square off at noon CST Sunday at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.

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Harris surpassed Derrick Henry’s career rushing record at Alabama. On Sunday, Henry will experience the Pittsburgh-Baltimore rivalry for the first time. He signed with the Ravens as an NFL free agent in March after eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans.

Henry enters Sunday’s game with 1,120 yards and an NFL-leading 12 touchdowns on 184 carries, but not as the league’s rushing leader after Saquon Barkley’s performance for the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night moved his 2024 total to 1,137 rushing yards.

“He’s having a great year as always,” Harris said of Henry.

Harris has played against the Ravens six times and has two 100-yard rushing games against Baltimore. Of more importance to Harris is Pittsburgh’s record in those contests – 5-1.

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