The bye week remains a busy time for MSU and Dantonio, with only another eight days before the Spartans take on the Fighting Irish.

"We'll get some guys, first of all, healthy,” Dantonio said. “Secondly, our players are really in school for the first time this week. You know, last week was a chopped up week, so they can get themselves grounded in that respect. Third, we can get out and recruit a little bit on the weekend, so that's a positive.”

Dantonio also stressed that it was imperative for his players to maintain their in-game conditioning to prepare for Notre Dame, and that he plans to work his players hard throughout the upcoming days.

In addition, he emphasized the importance of the freshmen class he brought in this past spring and summer and how he would handle those guys throughout the season, and in particular, how the bye week was beneficial for them.

“We'll play the freshmen when they're ready to play," Dantonio said. "We have an outstanding group of freshmen, but I don't want to put them on the field and take away the redshirt. I want to legitimate guys if we do redshirt, I don't want to say he got hurt and he didn't really get hurt. Their time is coming. This will be a big week for them. We'll have an opportunity to look at them more fully.”

Dantonio referenced another potential situation involving the NCAA and Ed Davis, as he would “expect to hear something this week,” and “expect that there would be a positive outcome.” He would be a big addition to the defense, who look to build off their first week performance

Senior safety and captain Demetrious Cox, like Dantonio, is taking a positive outlook on the team’s early bye week. He said the most important thing for the team to do right now is get healthy and in top-shape before playing the Fighting Irish.

“We got a lot of guys who have little nicks and banged up a little bit so it’ll be good to get a lot of guys back,” Cox said. “You know the Ed Davis situation, get him back in another week, hopefully get him back. Really just coming in with a lot of momentum with some fresh legs.”

Looking ahead to Notre Dame, Cox also mentioned how beneficial it is for the defense to have more than one game of film from this season on Notre Dame to look at and devote their full attention to, as the Fighting Irish play host to Nevada this upcoming Saturday.

“It should help a lot, having an extra game, getting a feel for them, see if it was just a week one kind of just throw this out there or if this is something they are going to stick to in their game plan,” Cox said. “We are going to be on that, be ready to watch them in week two.”

The defense is filled with veterans, but has an abundance of young talent learning and waiting in the wings. Junior linebacker Chris Frey, who led MSU with nine tackles in their opening victory, touched on how the young guys have been developing and using the bye to grow in their game.

“We are in a complicated defensive system here and you just have to learn the ropes,” he said. "For me, I came in early and I learned them pretty early but even just learning the basics, you've got to learn more than that. It’s hard. You start from there and you just keep growing and learn more and more every single year that you’re here.”

The Spartans take on Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 17 in South Bend, Ind. The Spartans are sure to use some of their time off to study Fighting Irish quarterback Deshone Kizer, as the sophomore threw for 215 yards and five touchdowns, as well as rushing for 77 yards and another score in their opening loss to Texas.