As Dantonio’s No. 24 Spartans (7-1 overall, 4-0 Big Ten) sit days away from a showdown with the No. 23 Wolverines (6-1, 2-1), he said the Spartans always are taking their best shot when going head-to-head with the rivals from Ann Arbor.

“We compete with the University of Michigan every single day, every single week, whether it’s on recruiting, whether it’s fundraising, a lot of different things,” Dantonio said. “Everybody at Michigan State, from talking to Tom Izzo, they’re competing against some of the same things.”

Dantonio’s dislike of Michigan has been well documented since returning to the Spartans, even firing back at former Michigan running back Mike Hart, who referred to MSU as “little brother” after defeating MSU 28-24 in 2007. Addressing the media the following week, Dantonio ensured the rivalry with Michigan isn’t over, using the phrase “pride comes before the fall,” which means something bad happening to those who think they’re better than they actually are.

After the remark, the Spartans won the next four consecutive games against Michigan before dropping a 12-10 nail-biter at Michigan Stadium last season.

The rivalry largely has been rejuvenated by the arrival of Dantonio in East Lansing, which the head coach indicated was due to the increased level of competitiveness in the games in his tenure.

“For it truly to be a rivalry, it cannot be one?sided,” he said. “When it’s much more competitive, obviously things take on a whole new meaning. If you can’t back up the words, it’s just empty words, and … sort of gets lost in its meaning.”

A year after players were not made available during Michigan week, senior linebacker Max Bullough, senior cornerback Darqueze Dennard and senior offensive lineman Blake Treadwell dished about the rivalry on Tuesday.

Bullough, a third-generation Spartan, said his first memory of the MSU-Michigan rivalry was in 2001, when he said he was in attendance at Spartan Stadium for Clockgate as a touchdown pass by then-quarterback Jeff Smoker to running back T.J. Duckett as time expired stunned the Wolverines.

“If you come to a school like Michigan State and you don’t admit that Michigan is our rivalry, if you don’t emphasize it or you don’t point to it … then you’re lying to yourself and you’re lying to your team,” Bullough said.

Although the feeling is ingrained in Bullough, it didn’t take long for Dennard — a Dry Branch, Ga., native — to catch on.

Dennard said his first rivalry moment came in the week of practice leading up to the game during his freshman season. Noticing the focus, intensity and high attention to detail of the older players on the roster, he fell in line and soon knew what many others accept to be true: the game is a big deal.

“Of course (there’s) going to be a lot of talking both sides of the ball,” said Dennard, who refused to mention Michigan by name during the press conference. “Everybody knows that we don’t like each other, pretty much. We’re just going to have a little fun, we’re going to talk back, and that’s all in the game.”