Winless against U-M in six tries prior to last season’s game and feeling disrespected by the Wolverines, the rivalry has taken a new turn, one in which MSU intends to be competitive.

And the Spartans plan on keeping the Paul Bunyan Trophy in East Lansing for years to come.

“This is the biggest game of the year for us,” said senior receiver Blair White, who had his breakout game against the Wolverines last season. “Whether we’re 0-and-whatever or undefeated, the Michigan game is always huge for us and definitely determines the bragging rights more than any other game. Like coach said, it just defines more than football, it defines everyday life.”

The annual grudge match has taken on new life since 2007 with former U-M running back Mike Hart calling MSU his team’s “little brother” and Dantonio’s subsequent response in which he said U-M needs to “check themselves sometimes.”

This rivalry has been a big part of Dantonio’s life since he started as MSU’s defensive backs coach in 1995. Even though Dantonio left for Ohio State following the 2000 season, the rivalry stayed with him. When he came back to MSU in 2006, one game immediately was circled on the calendar each year.

“(The rivalry) exists in me, and it exists in everybody who is a true Spartan,” Dantonio said in 2007. “Not the ones who give their donor seats to the Michigan Wolverines. It exists in everything. It’s there.”

At his weekly press conference Tuesday, Dantonio rattled off facts from games with U-M when he was defensive backs coach. Whether it was catches by Derrick Mason and Muhsin Muhammad in 1995 or the interceptions by Charles Woodson in 1997, no fact escapes Dantonio about this rivalry.

“You tend to remember it all because you put so much into it,” he said. “When you work 85, 90 hours a week preparing for one single moment, you tend to remember those things. This’ll be no different, just like last year and the year before. We’ll come ready to play, I can assure you of that.”

But this year’s game is being built out of the disrespect the MSU players feel the Wolverines have for MSU. The Spartans haven’t defeated the Wolverines in back-to-back games in 42 years.

“Coach D. told us if you haven’t played Michigan, within 30 seconds you’ll realize why we don’t like them,” senior defensive end Trevor Anderson said. “After about 15 seconds, I realized why I didn’t like them. Just the total lack of respect they had for our school in general, not just the program, but the total lack of respect they had for us.

“The lack of respect they had, period, was sickening.”

When asked if he didn’t like U-M before coming to MSU because he was from Ohio, senior tackle Rocco Cironi responded: “I think everybody has a hatred for Michigan.”

Dantonio said he feels every team needs a rivalry. For this team, U-M is that rivalry.

“I don’t care if I’m at Zanesville High School playing against the Newark Wildcats, that’s what it is,” Dantonio said. “I don’t care whether I was at Cincinnati playing against Louisville, but every program needs a game. That’s just the way I want to always deal with our program. I want our players to be excited about playing one particular game. I want to have focus. And to me, because I’ve been here before, that game was the Michigan game and I think you can safely say for most people in this state that it’s problem the same thing, at least if you’re green.”

Sophomore quarterback Keith Nichol will get his first true taste of the rivalry this weekend. The University of Oklahoma transfer has been apart of the Red River Rivalry between Oklahoma and University of Texas and said the intensity between the two games is similar.

“Obviously, this means a lot more to me since I’m a hometown guy,” Nichol said. “The Green and White playing the Maize and Blue is a big deal around here. I’m really excited to be a part of it, to suit up for it this time. I couldn’t travel last year, so I’m excited for this game. I’ve been waiting a long time to play these guys. It’s going to be an exciting moment.”

Outside of the rivalry, this season’s game with U-M represents a lot for the Spartans. Nobody expected MSU to be 1-3 heading into Michigan Week. Likewise, few outside of Ann Arbor expected U-M to be 4-0.

A win here puts MSU on the right track with winnable games the next few weeks in the team’s quest to go to a bowl game for the third straight season. A loss would put the team’s bowl chances in serious jeopardy, needing to win six of the final seven games to be in comfortable bowl position at 7-5.

U-M quarterback Tate Forcier is a dual-threat player who has led the Wolverines to their perfect start. But his style of play has seen him go out with injuries the last two games.

“Forcier’s made plays down the stretch to win both the Indiana and Notre Dame games,” Dantonio said. “They’ve got big play players on both sides of the ball.”

Fellow freshman quarterback Denard Robinson also has made an impact with his feet, as he is second on the team in rushing with 179 yards. Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor pace a rushing attack for the Wolverines that has averaged 240.2 yards per game. Six different players have scored rushing touchdowns for U-M.

But as the old adage goes, you can throw everything out when these two teams meet.

“This game has bragging rights throughout the entire state and you either win it or lose it,” Dantonio said. “You’re either going to walk the streets or walk the alleys.”

All said, for White, whose mother graduated from MSU but is surrounded by U-M fans in his hometown of Saginaw, this game represents so much.

“You might not think it’s that important who wins or not,” he said. “But to this football team and to my family it is, so hopefully we can get a win on Saturday.”