“I’m still testing it out, (but) I’m playing on it and I’m on full go,” Payne said. “I just got to gain the confidence back.”

Regardless if Payne gets his confidence back soon, the No. 9 Spartans know they might be getting the 16.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game back they’ve missed for seven contests.

Luckily for MSU, his return likely will come Thursday against Penn State, but the next question is how long his return will last on the court.

“How much he will play on Thursday, I wish I knew,” head coach Tom Izzo said during Tuesday’s press conference. “Maybe by Thursday morning, I will know more because it’s going to be day-to-day, but at least there seems to be some significant progress without any real soreness.”

But just as Payne will have to get accustomed to playing once again, Izzo and the team will have to “re-learn” how to work their offense with the main big man.

“That part of it is going to be hard,” Izzo said. “Getting him back and his skill level and what he can do for Keith (Appling), what he can do for Gary (Harris) I think, is as valuable as what he can do for him or for our team.”

Appling and Harris undoubtedly will benefit from the brick wall-esque ball screens that have been missing for more than four weeks.

To maintain his in-game mentality during that period, Payne acted like more of a 6-foot-10 coach and learned the game from a different perspective to mentally shape his play and the performance of his teammates.

“Seeing Keith being a point guard, you can see a lot of things maybe he should be doing on the bench,” Payne said. “I can see (on the bench), but when I’m on the court I really don’t know, I’m just out there playing and I’m in the action.”

Izzo also said the return won’t just benefit the guards — it will help his partner-in-crime in the paint, sophomore forward Matt Costello.

“I’ve been throwing three different guys in there, and Costello played one really good game, one really poor game,” Izzo said. “Part of that is you’re moving his running mate, the other forward, and that part has been so much harder than you would realize watching from the stands or even sometimes from my perspective.”

Perhaps the biggest asset that isn’t hard to see from the stands is his lengthy body taking up room below the basket, single-handedly changing the ways opposing teams’ prepare on offense.

“I think his biggest impact is on defense,” junior guard Travis Trice said. “It affects the way people are trying to score, and what they want to do. So we’re just definitely happy to have him back.”

However, one of the biggest factors of playing “D” in the paint is lateral movement.

During Tuesday’s practice, Payne put his left foot to the test moving side-to-side in the paint while working on his defense — a movement that is nearly new to him after his lengthy break.

“It’s a little different when you’re doing defensive slides and you haven’t tested it,” Payne said. “I’ve been running on a treadmill, so in a straight line I’m really, really good, so I’m just trying to get better at mentally trusting my foot going side-to-side.”