CANTON, Ohio — Ray Horton can’t take credit for the inspirational words that have served as the Pittsburgh Maulers’ rallying cry late in the USFL season.

The Maulers, coached by the former Steelers assistant and NFL defensive coordinator, have overcome a 2-6 start with three consecutive wins that improbably have catapulted them into the league’s championship game Saturday night.

And they’ve done it behind a motto that Horton heard on his car radio and repackaged for his own purposes:

“Make the rest of our season the best of our season.”

A year after finishing with a 1-9 record, the Maulers won two of their first eight games and were on the brink of elimination despite playing in the mediocre North Division where every team would finish below .500.

One morning, Horton hopped in his car and prepared to make his five-minute commute up Interstate 77 to the Pro Football Hall of Fame complex where the Maulers and New Jersey Generals played their home games this season.

“There was this young girl on the radio, and she had some form of cancer,” Horton said, “She was talking about making the rest of her life the best of her life. It hit me. I came in that day and tidied it up and said, ‘Let’s make the rest of our season the best of our season.’

“That is our tagline.”

The Maulers haven’t lost since. They beat Michigan and Philadelphia — giving up a combined 13 points in the process — to forge a three-way tie at 4-6 in the North. By virtue of owning the tiebreaker over those two teams, the Maulers entered the playoffs as the North’s top seed. They defeated Michigan for a third time, 31-27 in overtime, to reach the USFL championship game Saturday at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton.

Awaiting the Maulers are the defending champion Birmingham Stallions, who finished 8-2 and boatraced the New Orleans Breakers, 47-22, in the other semifinal. Birmingham defeated the Maulers, 24-20, in the regular season.

Pittsburgh Maulers coach Ray Horton talks about how losing close games helped pave the way for his team to start winning late in the season, which has placed them in the USFL championship. pic.twitter.com/jbUlNhywQE

— Joe Rutter (@tribjoerutter) June 29, 2023

Although Horton acknowledges the Maulers were “fortunate” to play in the North, he makes no excuses for the path his team took to reach the championship game.

“You look back on it, and how many close games did we lose?” he said. “There was a one-point game to Houston, a four-point game to Birmingham, a six-point game. … We did an analytical study, and in every game but one (a 22-0 loss at Memphis), in the fourth quarter we were either leading, tied or within two points.”

It reminded Horton, 63, of when he played defensive back for the Dallas Cowboys when they finished 1-15 in 1989.

“Half of those games we lost because we didn’t know how to win. Neither did we,” he said. “We didn’t know how to win because we only won one game last year. I told them, ‘We’re close. We’re here. Trust us, we’re on the right path.’

“Your record doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re in. … If they didn’t want us in the playoffs, too bad, they shouldn’t have let us in.”

When Horton took over for Kirby Wilson, another former Steelers assistant who didn’t return after the 1-9 season in 2022, he could have brought a new structure and philosophy to the franchise. Instead, he built upon the foundation Wilson implemented while also allowing son Jarren Horton to do the heavy lifting.

Jarren Horton returned as Maulers defensive coordinator and was named assistant head coach. After the Maulers allowed the fewest points in the USFL and had a league-high 20 takeaways, he was named the league’s assistant coach of the year.

“We’re doing the same things we did last year on defense,” Jarren Horton said. “Offensively, it’s being more opened up and having an athletic quarterback who can make plays.”

Troy Williams, a 6-foot-2 passer from Utah, and James Morgan, of Florida International, split the snaps the first two weeks. Faced with an 0-2 start, the Hortons opted to stick with Williams, who has started every game since.

Williams completed 65.2% of his passes for 1,414 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions. He also led the Maulers in rushing with 341 yards and three touchdowns.

In the semifinal against Michigan, Williams threw a 6-yard touchdown pass with 42 seconds left to give the Maulers a 27-24 lead. In overtime, he threw for a successful 2-point try — the method used by the USFL — and ran for another to seal the victory.

On defense, the Maulers rely on a secondary that includes former Steelers practice squad player Mark Gilbert, who had a USFL-high four interceptions, and Central Catholic grad Tre Tarpley, who had three interceptions plus another in the semifinal win.

“From top to bottom, coach Horton has instilled in us to get better every day,” Tarpley said. “That has been everybody’s focus. I don’t think anybody has been worried about wins and losses to this point.”

One more win, however, will cement the unlikeliest worst-to-first title run for the Maulers. Horton has received well wishes from several of his former Steelers players, including Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark.

Although the Maulers’ only connection this year to Pittsburgh has been in name, that could change in 2024 as the USFL explores moving more teams into their home markets. Until then, native son Tarpley would like to make Pittsburgh — plus his adopted home — proud on Saturday night.

“Our job is to bring one home, bring one home for the city,” he said. “I know we’re not physically in Pittsburgh, but Canton has treated us like family since we’ve been here. It’s our job to go out and execute. That’s all we plan on doing. We’ve got one more to get. The job is not finished.”

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