The Spartans haven't won a game in nearly a month.
They've endured their share of disappointments in the past three weeks after an overtime loss to Michigan, a heartbreaker at Ohio State and an embarrassing defeat at home against Northwestern last weekend.
It's been enough to rid MSU of a national ranking and question the potential of a bowl berth that looked so promising after a 4-0 start.
"We're not on cloud nine," MSU head coach John L. Smith said. "This is what football's about and it's going to be what life's about — we tell them that. There's going to be people in your life that you're going to lose, there's going to be things in your life that you're going to lose.
"This is what building character is all about. This is why you play the game. It's a game of life, too."
In order to somehow salvage this season, the Spartans need two wins to be eligible a bowl berth.
If they finish the season with six victories, they will likely wind up playing in either the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., or the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn.
Additional wins could throw the Spartans in the mix for bowl games in Texas or Florida.
"We feel like we definitely still have a lot to prove and we feel like we can win those final four games," junior quarterback Drew Stanton said. "It's going to test our pride to see how we come out Saturday.
"It's time to get back to winning football games around here like we should be. We realize what happens when you don't come to play in the Big Ten."
Senior offensive lineman Gordon Niebylski said the remaining four games could make or break the Spartans' season.
"We can still have a good season," Niebylski said. "We want to have a great last four games and hopefully, a fifth one.
"We've had a lot of fun this year and just because we've lost the last three games doesn't mean that we can't still have a good year."
The mood right now is a stark difference than several weeks ago, when the Spartans were ranked No. 11 in the country.
"I'm not going to be disappointed in my teammates or in my coaching staff," junior defensive lineman Clifton Ryan said. "I'm going to keep believing in those guys, I know they're going to keep believing in me and we're going to get this thing turned around."
Niebylski added that finishing on a winning note would be satisfying from a personal perspective to prove critics of the Spartans wrong.
"If you win, you're town heroes, if you lose, you're the town's goat," he said. "It's motivation in a sense because you want to win.
"I know there's a lot of Spartan pride across the country."
