“We’ve got to show some mental toughness and relish the moment,” head coach Damon Rensing said. “We’ve got a good group of leaders, and they’re looking forward to playing a game against a very good Michigan team, who is playing really good right now. We’re both proud programs and we both want to represent the state to the best of our abilities.”

Last year, Michigan spoiled MSU’s chances at the regular season Big Ten title with a 1-0 win in Ann Arbor, but the Spartans got them back in the Big Ten tournament after an overtime goal by then-freshman midfielder Sean Conerty.

Senior defender Kevin Cope said there’s a different feeling in the air leading up to the game.

“It’s huge,” he said. “There’s no other way to put it. We live for this stuff. Everyone gets a little excited and there’s a little more of an edge for the week. All the practices are more intense and everybody’s a little more motivated to get that win.”

Saturday also will mark the end of a career for six seniors.

Cope, midfielder Brent McIntosh, defender Ryan Thelen, defender Wesley Curtis, midfielder Cody Henderson and goalkeeper Bryce Dobbins will all play their final regular season game at DeMartin Stadium.

Rensing said he’d rather focus on the group rather than individuals, and it’s been nice to start the culture where he can use this crop of seniors as an example for the rest of the team.

“They’ve all had their own unique paths on how they got to this point in their career,” he said. “No career is a perfectly smooth path where there’s injuries or battling for starting spots, but these guys have all persevered and came out on top. I’ve been fortunate as a coach to work with these guys.”

All of them said there are moments both on and off-field that will stick out in their memories, but for Dobbins, some off the field moments will be etched in his memory more than any other save or game.

“The harlem shake video with the team, times in the hotel, on the bus” he said. “Those are some of the best moments on the bus on those long trips when everyone’s awake at the same time and we do our chants or when (junior midfielder) Ben Myers leads ‘When The Saints Go Marching In.’”

In the last four years, the Spartans have raked up a record of 42-29-11 with two NCAA tournament berths and a Big Ten tournament title.

Curtis played a big role for the Spartans his first two years on the team, but then injuries sidelined him much of his junior and senior years.

Still, he’ll never forget the first time he took the field as a Spartan, a 4-3 overtime upset of then-No. 6 Maryland in College Park, Md.

“The first game was definitely an eye opener,” he said. “Against Maryland, when we won.”

MSU and the seniors still have a trip to the Big Ten Tournament in Columbus, Ohio ahead of them, and most likely an entrance to the NCAA Tournament.

Henderson wants The Big Bear Trophy back, and was quick to respond when asked if a win against Michigan in the last regular season game of his career would be icing on the cake.

“Oh yeah,” Henderson said. “That’s who you want to beat most. It’s our arch rival and we hate them.”