The Spartans have won six consecutive times in South Bend, Ind., a feat that no other visiting school has accomplished. The last time the Spartans lost to Notre Dame in South Bend was in 1993.

“I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I think we’re excited to play every time we go down there and this year won’t be any different,” senior wide receiver Blair White said.

The Spartans are Notre Dame’s fourth most frequent opponent (72 meetings, trailing USC, Navy and Purdue) but MSU has the second most victories against the Irish (27, trailing USC’s 33).

For all of the recent Spartan coaches who have come and gone in that span, none of them walked through the tunnel in Notre Dame Stadium after a game against the Irish with his head down.

Not Nick Saban.

Not Bobby Williams.

Not John L. Smith.

And, so far, not Mark Dantonio.

For as many upsets documented in that time span or instances in which the Spartan football program couldn’t make it over the proverbial hump, teams always were able to place a gold-and-navy feather in their cap after repeatedly knocking down one of the most successful programs in NCAA football history on its own home turf. On Saturday, the Spartans will look to continue the streak.

“It’s a big rival. They have a great atmosphere there,” junior linebacker Eric Gordon said. “When we play Notre Dame, we come to play.”

Historic grounds

From famous coaches such as Knute Rockne and Ara Parseghian to legendary players such as Joe Montana and Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, to the grounds of the College Football Hall of Fame, South Bend has plenty to offer in terms of college football history.

“(I) watched the movie ‘Rudy’ growing up, so you walk into that stadium knowing there’s a lot of history there,” former Spartan quarterback Brian Hoyer said. “I remember going down there the first time when I knew I was going to play. I remember thinking, ‘Take a moment to enjoy it and go out and play your game.’”

Hoyer said the history of Notre Dame Stadium doesn’t affect the players.

“Once you get into the game, you don’t think about the fact that there’s Touchdown Jesus in one end zone and Rudy was carried off the field,” he said. “You’re just out there playing football.”

Small intricacies at Notre Dame Stadium — such as the field’s notoriously long grass, meant to slow down players — gives the whole experience a different feel, especially for opponents.

“We were used to shorter grass, we actually played on turf,” former Spartan quarterback Bill Burke said of the former surface at Spartan Stadium. “They keep the grass long for slower track, but just like anything else, you have to go in there, concentrate on what you’re doing and try to win the game.”

Memorable moments

The streak began in 1997, when the Spartans traveled to South Bend having lost eight straight to the Irish, winless against them since 1986 and without a victory at Notre Dame Stadium since 1983.

“I believe it was the first time Michigan State won down there after a long period, (but) I knew that we could have a great chance to win down there,” said Burke, who was a sophomore and a backup at the time.

The 23-7 win was the spark to a five-game winning streak for the Spartans against Notre Dame from 1997-2001. After a two-year hiatus in 1995-96, the rivalry was renewed in 1997.

“We came out of there in ’97 with a win and I think that just added to the confidence each and every year we went down there,” Burke said. “I was never a part of an MSU team that lost to Notre Dame, so all the way around, we had a good time down there.”

Though the Spartans have won six straight in South Bend, it hasn’t come easy. The six victories have given Spartans fans some of the most memorable moments in program history — but not without stress.

The season of 1999 has gone down as one of the most successful in MSU history in the past 40 years, but early in the season, the team was tested in South Bend against then-No. 24 Notre Dame.

With the score tied 13-13, less than six minutes to play and the Spartans facing third down, Burke — then a senior starter — hit wide receiver Gari Scott on a corner route near the first down marker. Scott was able to break away from the Notre Dame defender and tiptoe down the sideline for an 80-yard touchdown.

“Like a lot of people, I thought he had stepped out of bounds, but I didn’t hear a whistle and everybody kept going so I was running down the field behind him,” Burke said. “I was pumped up because we had gone back and forth and both defenses were playing pretty well. We were tied and it was kind of like who was going to blink first, so when we cracked the game open with that long pass, I knew that we had a great chance to finish the game on top.”

The Spartans did come out on top, 23-13, giving MSU back-to-back victories on the Irish home turf.

For an otherwise mostly dark tenure for John L. Smith, the victory in South Bend in 2005 might prove to be the brightest spot. The Irish came into the game fresh off a victory in Ann Arbor against Michigan and under first year head coach Charlie Weis, the Irish quickly had risen in the national rankings to No. 10.

But the Spartans rolled in unphased, and jumped out to a 38-17 lead by the third quarter behind the arm and legs of dual-threat quarterback Drew Stanton.

But as it grew common under Smith’s watch, the Spartans lost the lead, allowing the Irish to tie the score at 38 and send the game into overtime.

In overtime, the Spartans held the Irish to a field goal, giving MSU a chance to win with the ball back. After a Stanton run and a setback false-start penalty against MSU, Stanton ran an option play to the right, pitching the ball to running back Jason Teague.

“I just remember Drew (Stanton) pitching the ball and seeing an open lane for Teague to run for the touchdown,” Hoyer said. “As soon as he pitched the ball, we all started running on the field knowing it was going to be a touchdown.”

Teague rushed down the sideline, high-stepping into the end zone, giving the Spartans a thrilling 44-41 victory.

“It happened so quick,” Teague said after the win. “Once I caught it, there was nothing but daylight.”

The win tied the record for most consecutive wins in Notre Dame Stadium by an opponent.

As part of the post-game celebration, the Spartans planted an MSU flag onto the Notre Dame Stadium field, cementing the stadium as a second home and fueling the rivalry even more.

Hostile environment

Despite the Spartans’ recent success in South Bend, there are reasons that a six-game winning streak is the longest an opponent has been able to mount at Notre Dame Stadium in more than 100 years of Fighting Irish lore. Actually, there are about 80,000 reasons.

Running backs coach Dan Enos — who played (and lost) in 1987 and 1989 at Notre Dame during his Spartan playing career — said the coaches are doing all they can to prepare the younger players for the hostile environment, including the typical method of playing crowd noise over the loud speakers during practice.

“That stadium can get very loud and when it gets loud like that, you have to make sure you’re reading your right keys, you’re looking at the right things and hopefully that will get you through,” he said.

Dantonio — who will be making his fourth trip to South Bend — said the Spartans have been successful in South Bend simply because they’ve played mistake-free football.

Sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins never has played in Notre Dame Stadium and though he’s never taken a snap against the Irish, he said he is going to prepare for this game — the 73rd edition of the rivalry — as he would any other.

“I don’t treat games as one being different preparation than another,” he said. “I prepare the same. I’ll just get ready to go and go in there and play with emotion and play focused and see what happens.”

All signs indicate Cousins will need to be on top of his game. Notre Dame’s high-powered offense has scored practically at will and Cousins might find himself in the middle of a shootout.

Making more memories

In its most recent visit two years ago, MSU was in quest of a 4-0 start under rookie coach Dantonio. On the other sideline, the Irish, led by true freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen, were trying to avoid the first 0-4 start in school history.

“That was my first away game so I wasn’t used to getting booed,” said Gordon, a freshman at the time. “People (were) talking smack just walking out to the field. Once you get out on the field, you just kind of forget about things and you just do your thing.”

The Spartans defeated the Irish with relative ease that day, a 31-17 victory — a memory that 31 current members of the team still have. That win solidified the Spartans’ place in the record books for the most consecutive wins in South Bend.

Junior linebacker Greg Jones, also a freshman at the time, said the Spartans were able to channel the opposing crowd’s heckling into motivation.

“It’s a lot of energy. I think what we do as a team really good is we feed off of that energy really well,” he said. “Nobody really gets intimidated, we all just want to play and guys want to win, and I think when you can catch on fire like that just walking into the stadium, there’s really not much you can do.”

Hoyer said the streak means a lot to players who were a part of it.

“On our Champs Sports Bowl ring, we have something about six straight at Notre Dame so it’s cool to be a part of that,” he said. “I know that those guys going out there this Saturday want to keep that legacy going. You don’t want to be the team that breaks that streak, basically.”

If the Spartans happen to fall in South Bend for the first time in 16 years, it will end one of the most unlikely streaks in sports.

Through all the times the Spartans have sputtered down the stretch or become the “Same Old Spartans,” they’ve held their own against Notre Dame in South Bend.

“You kind of go in there as a small group knowing that your back’s up against the wall,” Burke said. “It’s not easy (to win there), but it’s certainly gratifying.”

Tomorrow, Dantonio and Clausen — now each in their third years — will square off again. Both teams came into the season upheld by lofty expectations, but each enter the game square at 1-1. In one corner, the Irish hold the history of their famed tradition that has intimidated so many visiting opponents. In the other, the Spartans have a recent history of routinely marching into Notre Dame Stadium and turning back around with the Megaphone Trophy in hand.

“All I can take from that whole win streak is that there were teams from the past here that went down there with a great amount of emotion, a great amount of inspiration and played their tails off for four quarters and even into overtime,” Cousins said. “If we can go down there with that same emotion, that same inspiration, we’ll have a chance. We just have to take from that what those guys did to be successful and try to bring that same approach in there. It’s still going to be a battle.”