However, when it came to actually transferring to MSU and having to sit out an entire season, pie — as well as turkey, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce — ended up having a lot to do with fitting in and putting his mind at ease.

“I went home with (senior offensive guard Roland Martin) for Thanksgiving in Chicago and he’s like, ‘What are you, like 240 (pounds)?’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m 265 now, dude.’ I ate more than he did and his mom said I can’t go home with him no more,” Anderson said.

Anderson smiled and said his strong friendship with Martin, as well as with others, wouldn’t have been possible without his year of ineligibility.

Sure, he wasn’t allowed to play for a year because of the transfer from Cincinnati — but the extra time allowed him to create a bond with the offensive players because of the time he spent on the defensive scout team, something he wasn’t accustomed to with the Bearcats.

“I was on scout team the whole year ? trying to get them better,” Anderson said. “I’m trying to stay at the top of my game. Just ‘cause I couldn’t play on the field didn’t mean I didn’t want to practice. It developed over time — I’m cooler with the offensive line here than in Cincinnati because I see them every day.”

Now, it’s a whole new gig as Anderson is competing for a starting defensive end slot for the 2008 season — a position where he recorded six sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 44 tackles and a John Pease Award for most outstanding defensive lineman in 2006 at Cincinnati.

“He’s having a great spring,” Dantonio said.

“He’s very, very functional and knows the defenses and plays at a high rate of speed. But with that in mind, he’s got to prove some things here at Michigan State, too. He’s not yet put himself in a game situation in a Spartan uniform and I’m sure he’s anxious to do that.”

Anderson made it clear he isn’t fond of trying to label himself with certain words to describe his attributes.

“I’m hard working, a blue-collar player, I get used to doing it all,” he said. “I don’t like to be placed into categories — a speed rusher, power rusher or run-stopper. An end is an end, he can play it all. Categories, that means you’re weak in an area.”

Although Spartans fans will have to wait to see what Anderson is truly all about, he’s made it known to his teammates and coaching staff that he doesn’t know half speed — as he hit senior quarterback Brian Hoyer in last weekend’s scrimmage, knocking him down.

“I had to apologize after the scrimmage because everybody took it kind of personal and it’s not personal,” Anderson said. “I pushed him. I eased up like, ‘He’s not gonna throw the ball.’ I don’t think Coach D. was that mad.”

And it’s guys such as Anderson that turn linebackers coach Mike Tressel’s head.

“When he’s on the tight end side, he knocks that guy backward and keeps us clean,” he said. “Unlike some other guys on the edge who are gonna screen straight up field, they’re gonna do a job of containing — he’s gonna be a guy who’s gonna hit people in the mouth and in the long haul, that keeps a few more people off the linebackers and I can appreciate that. I appreciate his intensity, appreciate his confidence because that rubs off on everybody.

“He’s gonna be a great football player. You guys will be impressed with him.”