Aside from watching the game, viewers and fans will be watching the way in which the players, fellow fans and the students of MSU conduct themselves, and get a rare glimpse of campus.

“It’s a situation where MSU notices national attention on our campus for a four-hour period,” MSU Athletics Director Mark Hollis said. “There are very few games on TV at night, and that gives the opportunity for fans beyond MSU to get to watch this.”

Hollis said the game also will help with attracting high school students to campus.

MSU and Notre Dame will kick off Saturday beneath the Spartan Stadium lights in a game that carries major consequences for both teams’ seasons.

The Spartans will try to avenge their last-minute loss to the Fighting Irish from last season and overcome recent heartbreak in night games. Notre Dame seeks to bounce back after a disappointing loss last week against Michigan and provide new playcaller Brian Kelly his first big victory as head coach.

But Saturday’s game is about more than the result — games like Saturday affect recruiting and MSU’s national reputation, as MSU head coach Mark Dantonio stated at his postgame press conference after last week’s win against Florida Atlantic.

“It’s one of the reasons you come to MSU, to play in games like that,” Dantonio said. “That’s what makes it special.”

Dantonio is 1-1 in night games, having defeated Indiana on Oct. 13, 2007, 52-27, but losing a heartbreaker last season against No. 7 Iowa, 15-13, while Kelly is playing in his first road game at Notre Dame.

MSU would love to get a win and eliminate the residue of its loss against Iowa last season, and players said they’re ready to use the atmosphere to their advantage.

“The environment’s going to be crazy,” sophomore running back Edwin Baker said. “We’re going to have a lot of people pumped up. We’ve got excitement out here (in practice).”

Extra measures

One of the biggest challenges with playing a night game is maintaining the extra people on campus for the game. With the 8 p.m. start time, it’s expected that visitors to campus will be in East Lansing much longer than they would be for a typical noon game.

Hollis said creating an environment that’s conducive for students and young children attending the game is imperative.

Greg Ianni, deputy athletics director for facilities and sports management, said the game will bring a slight increase in expenditures with additional security costs possible, but stadium lighting costs will be paid for by the television network.

Although night games would seem to invite extended taligating and additional trash, Ianni said the fact that tailgating lots don’t open until 1 p.m. should allow for a similar cleanup effort as early games.

“(Night games) always seem to be a little more intense than day games because of their uniqueness,” Ianni said. “They’re something different, and people get excited about them.”

Although television networks decide which games are played at night, Hollis said MSU can have a say through the Big Ten Conference office and its media affiliates. The networks look for games that have a high national stature.

The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved a proposal Thursday to add permanent lights — and subsequent night games — to Michigan Stadium.

Hollis said he doesn’t want to get into the habit of having too many night games, citing how their rarity makes them more special.

History of surprises

Although Spartan Stadium has been the home of MSU football for 87 years, it didn’t host a night game until 1987. Since then, MSU has hosted eight night games and four in the past 10 years.

MSU is 4-4 during that time, but if anything can be determined from those games, it’s to expect the unexpected.

From MSU’s win against No. 19 USC in 1987 to its meltdown against No. 12 Notre Dame in 2006, the Spartans have made statements in their night games.

In 1998, MSU took a 42-3 lead against No. 10 Notre Dame in its second ever night game and won, 45-23.

The following year, MSU opened a 10-2 season with a 27-20 win against Oregon in primetime, as cornerback Amp Campbell, who sat out the previous season with two broken vertebrates in his neck, made his return and scored on an 85-yard fumble return.

In 2002, Brooks Bollinger led a Wisconsin team that was 0-3 in the Big Ten to a 42-24 win over MSU, and then Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn led the Fighting Irish into Spartan Stadium for a 31-24 win in 2004.

Lately, night games have been a story of heartbreak.

In head coach John L. Smith’s final season in 2006, the Spartans battled the Fighting Irish and took a 31-14 second half lead.

Then, Notre Dame began moving the ball all over the field and came from behind for a 40-37 victory in a game that can go down as one of MSU’s worst losses of the decade.

If there was another game that ended as miserably for Spartan fans, it was last season’s 15-13 loss against Iowa.

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi’s seven-yard pass to receiver Marvin McNutt in the endzone with no time left capped an improbable scoring drive after MSU scored on quarterback Kirk Cousins’ 30-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Blair White with 1:37 left.

This year the Spartans will hope to avoid disappointment, but if history holds true, the game will feature wild plays. MSU is 1-2 against Notre Dame in night games.

“It’s a special game and a special environment, and I’m very, very excited about it,” Dantonio said.

No holding back

With a big-game atmosphere for Saturday, players said they’re not trying to hold back any of their energy.

“We’re definitely going to use it all,” junior safety Trenton Robinson said.

“When the fans are getting into the stadium, it’s going to be insane, because it’s already insane in practice.”

After recording seven fewer penalties last week than against Western Michigan in the opener, MSU will try to maintain the discipline in the environment.

“The first game of the season is always a little more sloppy,” senior defensive end Colin Neely said.

“Last week we did better with four penalties. We don’t want to have penalties, but we don’t want to have to deal with unforced errors like offsides and false starts. If we keep those unforced errors to a minimum, then we have a good chance to win the game.”

Regardless of the on-the-field play, Saturday night should provide a memorable experience for all.

“We’re all excited. The freaks come out at night so I’m sure it’s going to be packed out there,” senior tight end Charlie Gantt said.

“There’s going to be some crazy people in the stands so we’re going to be jacked, we’re going to be emotionally ready and it’s going to be fun.”