Alex Kessman speaks slowly and thoughtfully, a pace he prefers.

Hey, you don’t rush a kicker.

It’s no different than how he methodically marches off distances while lining up a kick — three steps back, two steps over — after getting his traditional fist pump and a good word from holder Kirk Christodoulou.

These can be stressful days for the Pitt football team as it tries to catch Virginia in the race for the ACC Coastal championship. The Panthers (6-3, 3-2) can’t afford another loss, starting Thursday night against North Carolina at Heinz Field. Also, they must hope the Cavaliers (7-3, 5-2) lose their conference finale against Virginia Tech.

That 30-14 loss to Virginia way back on Aug. 31 might be the deciding factor this season for both teams.

That’s the only Pitt game this year with a margin larger than 10 points. The other eight have been decided by an average of fewer than six.

Which brings up the subject of Kessman, Pitt’s kicker the past three seasons. He has the leg strength, skill and mindset to win a close game anytime the offense reaches the opponent’s 35-yard line.

He just needs to remain consistent. Although he’s made only two-thirds of his career kicks (38 of 57), he holds the record (college or NFL) for the longest field goal in Heinz Field history (55 yards). He has hit from 56 in the Carrier Dome and 55 at Georgia Tech two years ago, three times from 54 (all at Heinz) and has misfired only three times in 97 extra-point tries.

His secret? He doesn’t know the score. Or, to be precise, he knows it but doesn’t dwell upon it.

“I don’t really focus on the game,” he said, pausing and adding, “anymore.”

He said he has spoken to a sports psychologist since his freshman year.

“That was part of his thing,” Kessman said. “If you talk to any NFL kicker, they don’t even know what’s going on in a game because that’s not their job.

“My job is putting the ball through the uprights, and that’s what I try to focus on. The score of the game, how big the kick is, it’s not really my issue.”

Kessman started slowly this season, missing five of his first eight field-goal attempts, but he’s made 11 of his past 13.

“I got caught up in the beginning of the year, paying attention and cheering,” he said. “I had to really reel it back a little bit and focus on what I need to do.

“It was a stepping stone for me as a person and as a player to focus on what I had to do and then go out there and execute it.”

All kickers need a strong mind to discard the bad stuff. And Kessman, who was a boxer and also played quarterback and safety in high school, reluctantly said, “Not to boost my own self, but I have a pretty tough mind.”

“He’s a tough guy,” special teams coach Andre Powell said. “I don’t think (the situation) bothers him at all. The game-winning kick is just like the opening kick. We don’t make a big deal about it.”

Kessman credits his two best friends — Christodoulou and snapper Cal Adomitis (Central Catholic) — with keeping him calm and helping him succeed.

Of Christodoulou, he said, “The kid is attached to my hip, everywhere we go. I live with him. My locker’s next to him. He’s my best friend. It helps that that’s my dude out there. Cal is the same way. Our unit’s pretty tight.

“I have one play to put the ball through the uprights. I don’t have another go at it, which can be stressful. It helps my nerves, looking down and seeing Kirk. If you ever watch, you’ll see every time we kick, we give a little fist pump. He’ll say different things, ‘Smooth, be you. Stay confident,’ and it just calms me down a little bit. That’s my guy. Every kick.”

Kessman watches the NFL, and he knows how Adam Vinatieri, who’s made 594 field goals in 24 seasons, missed a potential winner against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Every kicker has missed,” Kessman said. “It happens. You try to be as consistent as possible.

“Even in practice, you take thousands of steps in the exact same way, three steps back, two steps over. You try to have the same pace to the ball that you possibly can.”

Kessman, Christodoulou and Adomitis work on the snaps to the point Adomitis knows from muscle memory how many rotations will produce a good snap, with the laces out as the holder catches it.

“Cal is money,” Kessman said.

Of course, no one’s perfect.

“Sometimes, the snap is a little bit weird. Sometimes, the hold’s a little bit weird. Sometimes, you kick the ball weird. It happens,” Kessman said.

“The difference between kickers, it’s up here. It’s in your head. To put a kick behind you says a lot of about you. It’s tough, but if you can, it makes you different than the other kickers.”

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