After I found out I would be covering football this season, the first thing I did was check the schedule.

I knew the majority of the games the Spartans would be playing, but I always like to take a quick gander at the schedule and determine which games MSU should win and lose.

I had them picked to beat Kent State and Hawaii, then I figured that if they could win one of the two at Notre Dame and Illinois that would be OK.

But so far the Spartans' season is far better than just OK.

MSU has treated fans to offensive explosions in the first four contests, and although whether this team had an offense wasn't a question in the preseason, I think it's safe to say that maybe the offense exceeded the expectations of the fans and media alike.

Junior quarterback Drew Stanton has never looked off his game so far, and with a solid offensive line, a great group of wide receivers and a triple threat of running backs, this offense is definitely worth the price of admission.

Defensively, the Spartans have exceeded expectations so far, too. With the exception of part of the Notre Dame game, the defense has been there to complement the offense and make plays of their own.

Granted the Spartans haven't faced the nation's best in the first four games this season, but fans have a reason to be excited about this team.

The Spartans are 4-0, ranked No. 11 in the country, and didn't have the meltdown game Saturday against Illinois that so many were banking on.

The success all starts with the head coach.

John L. Smith could have crumbled after seeing the criminal records from some of his players during the summer, but he didn't.

He disciplined them properly, and went about his job, an area of coaching that Bobby Williams might want to take some notes on.

Smith has had his team ready for every game so far this season. The coaching staff has installed what Smith calls a "business-like" attitude among the players. There's no inappropriate lollygagging with this group.

People had bad-talked Smith following the Notre Dame game, saying he didn't have his team ready to play. How can you say that a team is not ready to play a game when they open up a 21-point lead at one point?

Smith takes a lot of flak for the 5-7 record that his team posted last year, but to fairly assess that, you need to look at the big picture from last season, and that all starts with the quarterback.

If you can recall, MSU never had a solid starting quarterback for much of the season.

Damon Dowdell and Stephen Reaves (who aren't missed in East Lansing) clearly couldn't provide the spark that Stanton can, and to succeed in the type of spread offense that the Spartans run, you need to have that spark.

It seemed MSU would turn a corner last year after Stanton returned to the lineup only to be injured against Michigan, leaving his job up for grabs once again.

If Stanton stayed healthy last year, you could have written MSU into some type of bowl game.

This year, Stanton has emerged into a dark-horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He has been stellar in his starts, notably in the Notre Dame contest where he was able to move the ball (most of the game) on an experienced and talented Fighting Irish defense.

He's been healthy and he's finally been able to show the nation the plays he is capable of making through the air as well as on the ground.

Stanton's focus has been true for the rest of the team as well.

After the 61-14 thumping against Illinois, there was a minimal amount of celebration from the Spartans because they already had their focus on next week's matchup against Michigan.

Next week is a chance for the green and white to show that they're the premier Big Ten team in the state of Michigan this season, and also a chance for the Spartans to avenge last year's heartbreaking loss.

Michigan, who was thought to have the total package this year, has gone 2-2 in the early going, falling from the national polls and slowly unloading fans week by week off of the U-M bandwagon.

ESPN's Lee Corso of "College GameDay" has already said that MSU needs to avoid a letdown next week against the maize and blue (look who's on the Spartans' bandwagon).

Nobody last summer would have picked the Spartans to be where they're at currently in the season and now this team is turning some heads.

With a few more performances like they've delivered already, the Spartans might have everybody believing in this team and might be looking to end an improbable fairy-tale season January style.

Eric Fish is the State News football reporter and can be reached at fisheric@msu.edu.