ARMY-NAVY GAME AT GILLETTE STADIUM IN FOXBOROUGH, MA, DECEMBER 2023. | PHOTO BY MIKE PRISUTA

It’s billed as “America’s Game,” and it’s unlike any other that’s played.

Anywhere, any time, any year, at any level in any venue.

Army and Navy won’t be playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff when they meet for the 125th time on Saturday in Landover, Maryland, but they’ll be playing to beat each other.

And for those two storied institutions, winning this game is an objective that’s greater than the playoff.

Throw in the history, the tradition, the color, the pageantry, the emotion, the pre-game spectacle and the post-game ceremony, and the greater cause to which every player on both rosters is devoted, and you have an event that has to be experienced to be truly appreciated.

Mike Sullivan knows.

The Steelers’ senior offensive assistant played defensive back for the Black Knights of the Hudson prior to graduating from the U.S. Airborne, Ranger and Air Assault schools and also served two tours of duty as an assistant coach at Army and one as director of recruiting.

“An analogy that isn’t too far off is Steelers-Ravens,” Sullivan said this week. “It’s very physical. There’s an animosity and intensity, and the talent level is so comparable, that’s the big thing. It comes down to a play or two here and there and execution.

“That respect is there but it’s usually reserved for after the game and certainly in the years that follow with service to the country.”

That service commitment is what separates Army-Navy from Steelers-Ravens, Alabama-Auburn, Pitt-Penn State or any rivalry you can name — and always will.

That and the march-ons, the flyovers, the parachute drops and an atmosphere that can never be replicated.

If you can appreciate that and the intricacies and precision of option football, the discipline and determination required to win enough 10-yard battles in an annual 60-minute war, Army-Navy should be on your bucket list.

“It’s a special game,” Sullivan continued. “There are a lot of rivalries in college sports. That is so unique because of what awaits those young men and the commitment they’ve made to their country.”

That’s more than enough on most Army-Navy game days.

But this year, Army and Navy can both play.

Army, at 11-1, is No. 22 in the College Football Playoff rankings and is fresh from winning the American Athletic Conference championship.

Navy is 8-3, the first winning season for the Midshipmen since an 11-2 showing in 2019.

The two service academies have combined to produce five Heisman Trophy winners (three for Army, two for Navy) and win six national championships (five for Army and one for Navy, although none since Army’s last title in 1946).

Army quarterback Bryson Daily wasn’t recognized as one of the four finalists for this year’s Heisman, but he had an argument (1,480 yards and 29 touchdowns rushing, and 877 yards and eight TDs passing).

In 1945 and again in 1946, Army and Navy met as the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation.

So this is a game that not only celebrates and continues sports’ greatest tradition but also wakes up the echoes, to an extent, of the long-forgotten days when Army and Navy dominated the gridiron as well as the battlefield and the high seas.

So there’s that for those who appreciate history.

But what matters is winning, not an occasion to reminisce.

“The first thing you learn is ‘Beat Navy,’” Sullivan maintained.

Sullivan accomplished that three times in four tries as a player and went 2-2 against Navy as an assistant coach, but Navy leads the all-time series 62-55-7.

Sullivan remembers his senior year more than any other (a 20-15 Army triumph at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia), but his recollections aren’t of a touchdown, tackle or blocked kick.

“The team that wins sings their alma mater second,” Sullivan emphasized, citing one of the long-standing, signature Army-Navy traditions. “That’s always the big deal, sing second. I remember singing second, and just the celebration with my teammates and coaches.

“It sticks with me to this day.”

Sullivan’s days between that day and this one have added up tp 20 seasons in the NFL, including four with the Steelers and two in which he was a part of Super Bowl-winning teams with the New York Football Giants (XLII for the 2007 season and XLVI for the 2011 season).

You’d think the latter two achievements would have to be Sullivan’s ultimate in the game.

But for a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, even a Lombardi Trophy might pale in significance to Army-Navy.

“That’s a great, great question,” Sullivan insisted. “Since it is Army-Navy week, I gotta go with ‘Go Army, Beat Navy!”

Mike Prisuta is the sports anchor/reporter for Randy Baumann and the DVE Morning Show. He’s also the host of the Steelers Radio Network Pregame Show and the color analyst for Robert Morris University men’s hockey broadcasts.