It’s back.

Pitt and Penn State will renew their storied and colorful football rivalry in… It’s back.

Pitt and Penn State will renew their football rivalry in fall 2016, according to an email from Pitt spokesman E.J. Borghetti.

The two teams have not played each other since 2000, and they signed a home-and-home agreement on Tuesday to end the drought. The agreement will bring the Nittany Lions to Heinz Field on Sept. 10, 2016, and send the Panthers to Happy Valley on Sept. 16, 2017.

Athletic Director Steve Pederson outlined the scope of the rivalry at a press event Tuesday.

“It’s exciting for college football fans,” Pederson said. “One of the most historic and exciting rivalries of all time returns.”

“We’re talking about a whole new generation of fans that’s going to experience this game,” he said. “Some of the greatest players in the history of the game have played in this game.”

In their last bout, the Panthers shut out Penn State 12-0 at Three Rivers Stadium. Freshman Rod Rutherford scored the game’s lone touchdown when he took a short pass from John Turman and raced for a 62-yard touchdown. A smothering Pitt defense limited Penn State to just 64 yards rushing and 225 yards overall.

“I’m real excited,” head coach Todd Graham said at the event Tuesday. “The opportunity to renew one of the nation’s richest rivalries is exciting. The players want to play in these games.”

Overall, Penn State leads the series 50-42-4. The two teams have been battling on the gridiron since 1893. The schools played every season from 1900 to 1931 and 1935 to 1992. After a four-year hiatus, the series resumed for four games from 1997 to 2000.

Pederson said that renewing the rivalry came as a result of fortunate timing for both schools.

“Penn State had an opportunity free in 2016 and 2017 and I appreciate the fact that they came to us willing to discuss that opening,” Pederson said.

Even though the rivalry hasn’t seen a game in 11 years — and won’t for another five — Pederson had no doubt it will pick up where it left off.

“Because of the history and tradition and longevity of this rivalry, I think these things reignite instantly,” Pederson said.

The rivalry gained national stature during the 1970s and ’80s when the teams regularly met with both eastern supremacy and national title implications at stake.

Now, coach Graham sees it as even more than just renewing a rivalry — he considers it a sign of respect for the schools’ shared history.

“It creates excitement for our program and gives respect and honor to the past and to the future that this tradition will continue,” Graham said.