Interview help

I am currently a research analyst at a medium-size mutual fund management firm. I specifically work for the real estate fund and we primarily focus on publicly traded REIT's and companies that directly influence real estate (such as $CAT and $PLD). Additionally, I have 2 years of internship experience with direct multifamily valuation and underwriting (from an investor's risk standpoint, NOT in regard to the loan/creditworthiness). Now I have recently applied for a research analyst position at CBRE and not only am I perfectly (or at the very least 90+%) qualified for the position. However, I also applied for the underwriter position, just cause its online apps so why not. But, now I have an interview for THIS position and this underwriting position is specifically for evaluating Fannie/Freddie loans and other assessing risk regarding direct lending metrics that frankly, I have no true experience in. Am I familiar with the concepts? Probably more than any other finance professional who also is NOT an actual underwriter. But I am not a seasoned underwriter. I am a perfect fit for their research analyst role and I am extremely inspired to work at CBRE. 

My question is, how do I go about trying to navigate myself towards the research analyst role? Do I even mention it in the interview, or just try my best to nail the underwriting position? Do you think they will value me being upfront about this? 

The underwriting role, makes 28% more annual salary btw, and has higher prerequisite qualifications, so again, shouldn't they see this as a mature and valuable notion for me to bring up?

Thanks for your insights.