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Pitt running back James Conner, who had surgery to repair the MCL on his right knee Tuesday, is talking about playing again this season, but coach Pat Narduzzi said no.

“He tells me he’s coming back in five weeks,” Narduzzi said on his radio show Wednesday. “He’s crazy. He’s out for the year.”

Mike Gallagher, longtime friend of the Conner family, said Conner was “dead set” on playing against Iowa on Sept. 19. “Now, it’s North Carolina (Oct. 29).

“I told his mother, it shows his character and resolve,” said Gallagher, who has been with Conner and his family most of this week.

“But Narduzzi is looking out for him.”

Gallagher said Conner felt so good after surgery, which lasted an hour, that he was trying to talk his surgeon, Dr. Volker Musahl, into allowing him to visit Pitt’s South Side training facility that day.

“He told him, ‘I promise, I’ll just do upper body,’ ” Gallagher said Conner told Musahl. “He said, ‘No, you’re not doing anything.’”

MCL injuries typically take between five and six weeks to heal, but running backs often can’t come back in that time span.

“He’s Googling and seeing people do come back quicker,” Gallagher said. But he added, “He’ll never go against the (Pitt) medical staff.”

Conner’s next goal is to travel Friday on the team bus to Akron, with his leg propped. There is no word if Musahl will allow that, but Gallagher said Conner wants to be with his teammates.

Conner has received several get-well greetings from a variety of people, including former Pitt stars Hugh Green and Shady McCoy. “Even his seventh-grade teachers are calling me,” Gallagher said.

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review pitt football reporter. You can contact Jerry at 412-320-7997, jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter .