Is it déjà vu all over again?

A downtrodden MSU team was in a similar position in the middle of the 2005 season. After losing to Michigan in overtime and blowing a halftime lead against Ohio State, the Spartans were sitting at 4-2 and looking to rebound against Northwestern. They came out flat and were embarrassed in front of a Homecoming crowd, 49-14.

It's a game the team would rather forget.

"I'm not answering no more questions about last year," senior defensive end Clifton Ryan said. "This is 2006. It's a new year."

Ryan's approach is to be expected, especially considering what followed the 2005 Northwestern loss. The Spartans lost three of their last four games after the debacle against the Wildcats, finishing the season 5-6 and missing out on a bowl bid.

But MSU's inability to bounce back isn't just a "next year" problem — it's a part of the program's history, and the trend has continued during John L. Smith's tenure.

In 2003, MSU finished 1-2 following a one-touchdown loss to U-M. After a spirit-breaking triple-overtime loss to the Wolverines in 2004, the Spartans lost three of their last four games.

Smith said the team always makes a point to address the mistakes that were made in tough defeats but then expunges the loss from its memory.

"Regardless of win or loss, get the corrections made and bury it," Smith said. "Let's move on. Even if it's a win, you don't want to dwell on it. A loss is the same way."

It's easy for the Spartans to say they've erased the memories of last Saturday's collapse from their memory and are ready to focus on the Big Ten season. The players' mantras all sound the same.

"We're 0-0 in the Big Ten."

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"It really counts now."

"Our goal is to win the conference."

But whether their pledge to only focus on the opponent at hand will hold true is another story. There is a lot to reflect on.

The next time Drew Stanton drops back and feels the heat, will he remember his ill-advised pass to the middle of the field that was picked off by Notre Dame's Chinedum Ndukwe and returned for a go-ahead touchdown? When Greg Cooper lines up one-on-one in the red zone against an opponent's No. 1 receiver, will he flash back to Rhema McKnight beating him for two touchdowns in the corner of the end zone? The next time the sky opens up and the rain pours down, will the defense think of the way it allowed the Notre Dame passing attack to move up and down the field despite a Midwest monsoon moving over Spartan Stadium?

"We're in the Big Ten conference," Stanton said. "That's what we have to worry about."

Stanton said the Spartans have played enough games to know exactly where their strengths and weaknesses lie, making it easier for the team to progress from week to week.

"From here on out, we have a good idea of what we need to work on and what we need to get better at," Stanton said. "Hopefully, we can accomplish that in the coming weeks."

Stanton — and the offensive line that protects him — may be the linchpin to the successes or failures that will come the Spartans' way for the rest of the season. Stanton tore the Notre Dame defense apart with his legs and his arm in the first half, but had negative 12 net yards rushing in the second half and completed just 2-of-9 second-half pass attempts.

Senior center Kyle Cook said the Spartans' first-half success against the Irish is much more telling than the second-half meltdown.

"You look at the first half and how we moved the ball and how we worked as a team as an offense and how the defense played," Cook said. "Throughout the game, there were a lot of positive things."

If the Spartans are able to move on, they should have no trouble with Illinois. The Illini are young and inexperienced. Their quarterback is a true freshman. There's no reason to believe — if the Spartans have their heads screwed on straight — they won't be able to match the 61-14 drubbing they put on Illinois in 2005.

Said Smith: "We're gonna find out what character we do or do not have."

Ethan Conley can be reached at conleyet@msu.edu.