In 1990, MSU was playing for a four-way tie in the Big Ten at home against Wisconsin, which finished the season winless in the conference.

This season, the No. 17 Spartans (9-2 overall, 6-1 Big Ten) will travel to Penn State (10-1, 6-1), which boasts the Big Ten’s top defense and second-best offense as well as a home stadium where MSU has lost seven straight times.

The magnitude of the game hasn’t been lost on MSU head coach Mark Dantonio, who has been preparing his team for Penn State since Nov. 9.

“I think I’ve probably said, ‘It’s exciting,’ 15 times,” Dantonio said of Saturday’s game 15 minutes into his weekly press conference.

“The atmosphere will be electric, I’m sure, and this will be something that players will remember for the rest of their lives.”

Although Dantonio originally lamented having an off week so late in the season, he said the bye week has given his players a mental break while placing additional focus on this weekend’s showdown at Penn State.

“When you come off a bye week, through the course of my football career, you look at the last game you played and if you’re sitting there with a loss. The answer to that is, ‘No,’” Dantonio said. “If anything, it’s provided a little bit of an adrenaline boost.”

Healing

In addition to providing a mental relief to players and coaches, the off week has offered athletes a chance to heal before the season’s most consequential game.

Dantonio doesn’t go into detail about specific players’ status and injuries, but senior free safety Kendell Davis-Clark (shoulder), sophomore cornerback Chris L. Rucker (arm), sophomore wide receiver Mark Dell (knee) and freshman wide receiver Keshawn Martin (shoulder) have either missed games or been limited in recent weeks.

“We’re much healthier without going into great depth,” Dantonio said. “Things like an ankle injury that have nagged a player the last three or four weeks, we’ve been able to get over those things. We’re a much healthier football team and we’re going to take that into the game.”

No scoreboard watch

Dantonio said he and his team will have no part in the irony paired with MSU’s Rose Bowl chances.

The Spartans’ lone shot to travel west for the Rose Bowl rests with arch-rival Michigan (3-8, 2-5), which must beat No. 10 Ohio State (9-2, 6-1) in Columbus for MSU to get the Bowl Championship Series bid. MSU must also beat Penn State for the scenario to play out in the Spartans’ favor.

Although the chances of an upset by U-M are slim, Dantonio said his team will not be scoreboard watching after the Wolverines and Buckeyes kick off at noon (MSU and Penn State start at 3:30 p.m. Saturday).

“We’ll be locked in by then. We’ll be in pregame meal three hours beforehand when that game starts,” he said.

“To be honest with you, my focus is going to be on what we can do in the very last minute to win the football game. All those other things are secondary. It will be nice to look back on after the fact whether they won or didn’t win.”