The eligibility of Thornhill and 22 other seniors run out after this season, but their end has marked a new beginning for the Spartan football program.

In the past three seasons under Smith, MSU struggled to bounce back from adversity — one loss snowballing into another, crashing all the way to the bottom of the Big Ten.

But junior quarterback Brian Hoyer said this senior class has breathed new life into a battered program.

“They started the revival,” Hoyer said.

“Two or three years down the road when I’m gone, when the team starts winning Big Ten championships … it all started with this senior group; with them accepting the challenge to change that mindset and change the attitude of the program.”

They accepted the challenge laid out by first-year head coach Mark Dantonio, who preached week after week about how this team will handle adversity.

“They’ve stayed the course,” Dantonio said. “From day one when we came here as a staff, they wanted certain things done, and they’ve worked to get those things done in terms of their attitude. There’s been no complaining.”

MSU’s season started very similar to those of the past, rattling off four wins in a row until losing to Wisconsin by three points.

But the doubters didn’t start crying “Same Old Spartans” until MSU lost to lowly Northwestern in overtime a week later.

Those cries muted after MSU pounded Indiana the next week, only to echo right back when the Spartans dropped three straight close games to Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan.

When MSU defeated Purdue on the road last Saturday, there was a sense of resolve in the locker room following the game.

“It’s definitely motivating as a senior to see our team playing the way they are after three hard losses, not falling down,” Thornhill said after the Spartans 48-31 victory.

“This team would have folded last year … and we didn’t fold today, and we’re not going to fold next week.”

Dantonio said the seniors have sent a message about perseverance and resolve.

“It could have been very easy for them to have thrown in the towel and not worked as hard,” he said.

“Some of them have battled through injuries, but they’ve all battled through tough losses.”

The team has developed a “never say die” attitude, senior offensive lineman Mike Gyetvai said.

“You play to the bitter end,” Gyetvai said.

“Hopefully we’ve left something that they can look back and they can build on from here.”

For Gyetvai, the hardest part about leaving the football team is going to be not spending as much time with his teammates.

“You’re just so trained to seeing them there day in and day out, and you just don’t see them anymore, so it’s kind of awkward,” he said. “Saying goodbye to them kind of sucks.”

A win Saturday against Penn State could secure a bowl bid for the Spartans, delaying the seniors’ farewell for another month.

Senior offensive lineman Pete Clifford is calling it the biggest game of his football career, and going out with a win in Spartan Stadium and getting a bowl bid would mean a lot.

“It’s just another chance to have fun with those guys and be a team again,” he said. “Just go out in a bowl and set the program off on the right foot with Coach D in his first year.”

The seniors will be honored prior to the 3:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Spartan Stadium, then attempt to leave MSU as winners when the team faces the Nittany Lions.