Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Hope you are enjoying it with friends, family and those who make you happy. I have been doing little things in preparation for the full-blown day of cooking (and maybe a bit to drink). The way things work out this time of year, we can’t travel to be with the entire family, so it is just the wife and kids. Which is much more peaceful, but we do miss out on the fun (usually) chaos of a house full of family.

There’s a game on Saturday, and I’m taking my son to it. He went with me to the spring game and had a great time. It just hasn’t worked out most of the season, but I promised him his first game this year so it is do or die time. On that note, does anyone have a couple extra tickets they aren’t using? Dragging him to the pressbox doesn’t seem like a good idea. I don’t think I can sell him as my intern. That means I have to pick a couple up. I know it won’t be hard to get a couple, but I might as well ask here first.

This being the final regular season game, means it is also Senior Day. Guys who have been through a bunch of transitions. Who have helped lay the groundwork for what we are all hoping builds to something greater.

Guys who helped make this season special.

It was the first pick of his four-year career, securing Pitt’s 42-39 victory.

And with that, the kid who came here all the way from the state of Washington, who sat the bench for three years and who stuck it out largely because he wanted to make his many Pitt-alum relatives proud, made sure his name will be mentioned in bar conversations for decades to come.

Who ended the 2016 Penn State game with that interception in the end zone?

Ryan Lewis, that’s who.

Same guy whose uncle, former Steelers defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, once roamed Pitt’s secondary and whose three cousins — Louis Riddick (1987-90), Ian Riddick (2000-01) and Tristan Roberts (2007-11) — played football at Pitt.

Could there have been a more fitting hero?

Tim Lewis contacted his nephew earlier in the day. Ryan called him back about an hour before kickoff, as he was getting taped. He said Tim gave him a pep talk.

“He said this was a lot bigger than I could have ever imagined,” Ryan said.

Ryan’s father, Will Lewis, a former NFL cornerback who is the Kansas City Chiefs’ director of pro scouting, watched from the press box.

“This means the world to me and means the world to the city of Pittsburgh,” Ryan Lewis said. “I would have never imagined in 100 years this would have happened to me. I’m sure I surprised a lot of people.”

Those might include his coach, Pat Narduzzi, who knows Lewis doesn’t have the greatest hands and who practically mugged Lewis when he reached the sidelines.

“He kissed me,” Lewis said.

He kissed you?

“A bunch of times,” Lewis said, laughing. “He was screaming, ‘You’re a hero! You’re a hero!’”

Narduzzi is quite the kisser, it seems.

The guys who felt forgotten, and despite the off-the-field work, were ready to leave.

The tough times, too: In 2014, when he was so discouraged by his lack of playing time he considered transferring.

“That was the reality of it,” he said. “I wasn’t comfortable here. So weren’t a lot of other people.”

The previous coaching staff largely ignored [Mike] Caprara, a redshirt sophomore at the time.

“It was kind of like beating a dead horse,” he said. “I wasn’t going anywhere. I couldn’t get reps on the field.”

Through faith, self-examination, prayer, repeated talks with former Pitt linebacker Scott McKillop and, finally, former coach Paul Chryst’s departure to Wisconsin, Caprara decided to stay.

If Chryst had stayed, Caprara said, he would have been gone.

“No question,” he said.

But Caprara wanted to finish what he started, including his first of four mission trips he took to Haiti.

“I found myself into Haiti,” he said. “We built our own program. That’s something special. It kept me here. And, sure enough, here we are.”

When coach Pat Narduzzi arrived after the ’14 season, he found a place for Caprara, who played all 13 games, with eight starts, and recorded 101?2 tackles for a loss. He has started seven games this season, although he has missed three with an injury.

Capara’s work in Haiti landed him on the Allstate Good Works Team this year. He’s been an a leader on this team. Obviously off- but also on-the-field.

Then there are the guys with their own faith… in Pitt.

Senior offensive tackle Adam Bisnowaty said he’s living in a “different world” than the one he entered as a freshman in 2012. He wasn’t among the players cursing their misfortune because of the coaching changes.

“We wanted to be great,” he said. “That’s the reason we came to Pitt, not for a coach.”

Tyrique Jarrett and Shakir Soto anchoring the middle of the D-line. The safeties, Webb and Mitchell. Linebacker Matt Galambos calling the defensive schemes. Tight end Scott Orndoff who finally got his chance to thrive. Dorian Johnson, who along with Bisnowaty have anchored the left side of one of the best O-lines in football this year. Nate Peterman being the game manager and so much more at QB.

And of course the oldest senior on the team, Ejuan Price. A starter from the get go, but has spent 2 1/2 seasons injured and managed to get a sixth year of eligibility to leave it all on the field for Pitt — especially this year.

For a guy who has put up some eye-popping numbers this season, Ejuan Price’s stat line in the upset road win against Clemson Saturday may have been his most surprising so far this season.

No sacks, no tackles for loss, no tackles.

But there is one number that stood out to Pat Narduzzi.

“He had 90-something snaps last week,” Narduzzi said at his press availability Thursday. “That’s a lot of snaps. There’s a lot of people around the country that aren’t taking that many snaps and can rotate. He’s taking a lot of snaps.”

Of course, a large reason for Price’s absence from the box score was the extra attention the Tigers paid to him. Call it the price he has to pay for racking up 16 tackles for loss and nine sacks heading into the Saturday game against Duke At Heinz Field.

And against Duke, the Blue Devils inexplicably tried to go one-on-one defensively. He feasted.