NEWS AND NOTES

— On a conference call with Charlotte media Wednesday morning, Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury said he’s impressed with the Panthers’ defensive improvement from Week 1 to Week 3.

“You can tell they’re understanding the scheme,” Kingsbury said. “They give you multiple looks, and everybody gets involved.”

— Kingsbury and Panthers head coach Matt Rhule competed against one another in the Big 12 when Kingsbury was Texas Tech’s head coach and Rhule was at Baylor. Kingsbury’s final game at Texas Tech was a 35-24 loss to Baylor in November 2018.

“He’s a phenomenal coach, even better person, too. He’s one of my favorite people I’ve met in coaching,” Kingsbury said. “He literally texted me an hour after the game when it came out I was fired and said, ‘Hey man, I’m sorry about that.’ And was genuine about