While the Spartans are 4-0 overall this season, the team doesn’t necessarily believe those numbers mean anything. The Spartans know that hot starts flamed out in the past two years. All that matters is the Big Ten record, which even has people in Ann Arbor shooting for a Big Ten title.

With nonconference games out of the way, MSU is ready for the season to begin.

“It’s a new season,” senior defensive end Jonal Saint-Dic said. “The 4-0, you can throw that in the garbage. This is the new season and we’re going to take it one game at a time and go hard.”

It doesn’t get much harder than Wisconsin. The Badgers are currently ranked ninth in the nation in both polls and have year’s worth of Big Ten success to go along with it.

The Spartans understand, though, that the easy part is out of the way. Each week presents a new task, each one more pressing and important than the previous one.

Things are getting more complicated in East Lansing as more is riding on each game.

“You can challenge your program and your players every single week that, ‘Hey, the next chip is a little bit bigger, the next test is a little bit tougher,’” MSU head coach Mark Dantonio said. “I think those are positives that we can build on here.”

The players are doing their best to keep grounded despite their unbeaten record – but they don’t need to try too hard. The past two seasons taught the team that nothing but the Big Ten matters and that success out of conference doesn’t always translate to conference play.

They also have learned how to deal with success better this year. Whereas the team may have been short-sighted in previous seasons, the coaching staff has its players focused on the long term. Dantonio has said constantly that the team will be evaluated at the end of the year, and the players know it’s a long way from judgment day.

“We learned the hard way, but I think it’s something we understand that 4-0 doesn’t mean anything anymore,” junior quarterback Brian Hoyer said. “Now that we’re in the Big Ten season, it’s really 0-0. It’s a brand new season. All of that has passed us and nothing really matters up until this Saturday.”

Despite all the Spartans’ problems with Big Ten play the past two seasons, many college football fans have labeled the Big Ten an overrated conference. While conferences such as the SEC, ACC and Pac-10 pride themselves on fast-paced offenses, the Big Ten philosophy centers around smashmouth football and bruising defenses. And with teams such as Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa being upset by arguably lesser opponents, as well as Florida’s embarrassment of Ohio State in last year’s national championship game, further doubt has been cast on the Big Ten’s strength.

The players and Dantonio don’t buy that the Big Ten is weaker than any other conference. While the style of play is different, they argue there is parity in college football – even teams like Auburn can lose to a team like South Florida.

“I want to know what conference they’ve been watching because the Big Ten is a very good conference,” senior running back Jehuu Caulcrick said when asked of Big Ten doubters. “Week in and week out, we’re just beating up on each other and we know we’re going to have to hunker down.”

With five teams ranked in the USA Today Top 25 and three ranked in the Associated Press Top 25, the Big Ten is proving its might as a conference. That has MSU even more determined to open conference play.

“We know what it takes,” Caulcrick said. “We know it’s going to be tough. We know we can’t just throw our helmets out there and win ball games.”

And as the Spartans prepare to go to the Big Ten battlefield, they take up their arms in preparation for a long fight. The way this story has been written, it can end as fairy tale or as a dark, depressing drama.

But that all depends on who’s writing.

“If I had to write a story, it would have a happy ending,” Dantonio said. “So we’re 4-0, that’s a happy ending.

“But as far as what we’ve seen scripted-wise, you have to have a little drama there, so we’ve had some drama. We’ve had some adversity a little bit. There’s been a little ups-and-downs, at least in terms of close games and we’ve pulled through those. We’ve had to go away and play. We’ve done that.

“So, thus far it’s four chapters in and we’re OK. But this is a 12-chapter book.”

And as the script was almost finished and a reporter asked the next question, Dantonio suddenly had a revision to his book: “13. Sorry.”