College Station, Texas ? There was a time when a trip to Texas A&M was the last thing a team needed coming off a discouraging loss.

It was the perfect remedy for No. 17 Pittsburgh.

Rod Rutherford threw a career-high five touchdown passes with help from his acrobatic receivers — especially Larry Fitzgerald, who caught three — in a 37-26 victory Saturday over the Aggies.

“We had a very difficult loss to deal with last week,” Pitt coach Walt Harris said of the shocker at Toledo that dropped the Panthers eight spots in the Top 25. “A lot of people jumped off the bandwagon, but those people don’t matter.”

Rutherford was 14-of-28 for 283 yards and an interception, and Fitzgerald caught seven passes for 135 yards for Pitt (3-1). The Panthers did most of their damage after a lackluster first half that ended with the Aggies (2-2) leading 13-9.

Pitt went up in the third quarter on Princell Brockenbrough’s 20-yard touchdown catch. He made a leaping grab in the end zone and gingerly dragged his toes as he flew out of bounds.

Brockenbrough had three catches for 100 yards.

“I call him ‘Clutch’ because he’s always making a big play,” said Fitzgerald, who added that the victory would allow the Panthers to put last week’s 35-31 loss to Toledo behind them.

Texas A&M came right back after Brockenbrough’s TD, but Todd Pegram missed a 33-yard field-goal try.

Pittsburgh quarterback Rod Rutherford (12) breaks away from Texas A&M defensive back Sean Weston in the fourth quarter. The No. 17 Panthers won, 37-26, Saturday in College Station, Texas.

The Panthers kept rolling, and Fitzgerald punctuated the next drive with a five-yard TD catch.

Fullback Lousaka Polite made it 30-13 late in the third quarter, catching a six-yard pass from Rutherford — who was not made available for postgame interviews — after the Panthers got the ball when A&M returner Terrence Thomas muffed a punt.

A&M’s Courtney Lewis scored on a one-yard run early in the fourth quarter, but Rutherford countered with a 49-yard TD pass to Fitzgerald, who made an over-the-shoulder catch near the goal line amid a crowd of Aggies. It was Fitzgerald’s 18th TD catch in his last 10 games.

“That catch is tough when there’s nobody around you, let alone three guys around you,” Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione said.

He added that Fitzgerald “may be as good a receiver as I’ve ever seen.”