A night game at Spartan Stadium against one of MSU's most ferocious rivals, Notre Dame, is a college football fan's dream come true.

Everything will be more intense on Sept. 18, when ESPN televises the game at 7 p.m. The night air will boom and crackle with the roar of a stadium full of fans.

Statistics, 3-1 for night games, are already tilted in favor of a Spartan victory. The campus will come alive as tailgaters wait in town all day before the game.

Fans will pack local bars and restaurants - pumping some extra fuel into the local economy, if only for a day. The police too will be out in force, just in case the party gets out of hand.

Alumni will pour back from all over to greet their campus once more.

In 81 years of football, this will be only the fifth night game at home, and it will certainly be something to remember.

The last time MSU went up against Notre Dame at night in 1998, the Spartans trounced the Irish 45-23. The weight of history stands behind the Spartans.

NCAA officials were right to announce the Notre Dame game first for the 2004 season - the hype and the circumstance built up around the game merit the placement alone. Some players and head coach John L. Smith have said they are anticipating the matchup, calling it a "big game" and a "special sports weekend."

The night will make this game feel like a professional game, even if it doesn't play that way.

The Spartans only nighttime loss, 42-24 to the Wisconsin Badgers, came in 2002. In 1999 the Spartans beat Oregon, and in 1987 MSU took down Southern Cal.

Given the circumstances and the excitement surrounding the game, amazing, unpredictable things are bound to happen on and off the field.

The Spartans, borrowing a page from the Detroit Pistons, could definitely be in the position to make some of their harshest critics eat their words.

For those MSU fans out there who haven't yet been to a game, this might just be the one to see.