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Pitt’s offense always has 11 players on the field, but when one of those players happens to be James Conner, that 11 seems to take on a different form.

Pat Narduzzi couldn’t totally describe it after Pitt’s 56-14 win over Duke, but he knows something happens when Conner is on the field.

“When he’s in the game, it seems to be a little bit different,” Narduzzi said. “He’s got an attitude and he obviously leads by being in the huddle. I asked Coach (Matt) Canada, ‘Is there something different when he’s in there? What’s going on here?’ He just totes the rock and he’s a special person and a special player.”

It’s probably adequate to describe the Conner effect as “attitude.” After all, it would be tough for his teammates to not absorb at least a little swagger after some of the stiff arms that planted multiple Clemson defenders in the turf two weeks ago. Or, more recently, when he stiff-armed one Duke defender and then encouraged a second Blue Devil to have more of the same.

That second defender opted to nudge Conner out of bounds. Everyone in the stands and certainly on the sidelines got the message.

“Every time we take the field, yeah, we have a little chip on our shoulder,” Conner said after the game. “We preach to be the most physical team on the field and that’s what we do every game.”

Conner’s production against Duke - 101 yards and two touchdowns on 14 rushing attempts - was something of a drop-off from the last two times he faced the Blue Devils. In 2013 he ran 23 times for 173 yards and a touchdown, and in 2014 he put up a career-high 263 yards and three scores on 38 carries.

But Conner had an excuse for the lower numbers this year. He “had a little tweak” Narduzzi said and was seen having his right ankle taped on the sideline, a situation that kept him out for that quarter.

“He was just being smart, which is what we ask our guys to do; you don’t want something little to become something big,” Narduzzi said. “He provided a great spark in the second half when he did come back.”

Conner’s spark was almost instantaneous. His first handoff in the third quarter went for 23 yards, and four plays later he plowed into the end zone for the touchdown that set the ACC record. He ran a total of eight times after halftime and gained 63 yards, recording the 16th 100-yard rushing game of his career in the process.

Saturday was also Conner’s fifth 100-yard game this season, but three of those five have come in the last four games - showing that, much to the chagrin of Pitt’s opponents, he just might be getting stronger as the season goes on.

“I feel good,” Conner said. “Every week, I’m just trying to chip at it and be the best running back I can be. But yeah, when I take the field, I put the cancer and everything behind me and just play. I’m getting better every week.”

And his teammates are feeding off his performance. From the stiff arms to the sheer willpower he seems to run with, Pitt seems to draw its attitude from its leading rusher.

“He inspires everything: defense, special teams, offense,” junior cornerback Avonte Maddox said after Saturday’s game. “When he’s not on the field, he’s over with the defense turning us on, like ‘Let’s go, keep going, keep playing.’ He’s a great guy, a great man and I love him.”