As the Spartans return home against top-10 opponent Indiana, Michigan State will be looking to eliminate those mental errors.

“We just gotta limit the mental errors and the ways that we're beating ourselves on the field,” Michigan State wide receiver Jalen Nailor said. “That's the biggest thing that's been happening,  just beating ourselves. We know that we're a great team, we know we can do it on the field, so if there's mental stuff that's blowing it for us.”

The Spartans have shown flashes like they did against their rival Michigan, but now will try to develop some consistency.

“What we're looking for and what we need is consistency and performance,” Tucker said. “If you want to be successful, you have to be consistent on a day-to-day basis. Consistency comes from doing what you're supposed to do, the way you're supposed to do it, and understanding the whys of why it's important to do it that way, day in and day out. That's what we're working towards.”

When Tucker first took the job back in February, there were questions on the depth and talent of the roster for him to compete right away. Tucker said that he believes he has the team to be successful.

“We gotta figure out how to coach it better or we gotta play it better,” Tucker said. “Then, at least you're in a position to make a play. Now, if you're in the position to make the play, and then you can't make it on a consistent basis, then maybe we need to get another player in there.”

Despite the belief in the roster, it was hard for the coaching staff to find people across the roster that played up their standards according to Tucker.

“We had a hard time finding guys that played well,” Tucker said. “It was hard to find anyone that we felt like played at a high level to win that game. From a coaching standpoint, we need to coach better.”

Starting off this week, Tucker quickly wanted to move past last week’s disappointment, and prepare for the next one.

“You can't live in the past,” Tucker said. “That's not a formula for success. You have to be neutral, you have to say, ‘Okay, what happened, what are the facts.’ You can't judge it right, wrong, good or bad. You know what happened? Okay, and how do we fix it? All right, let's fix it, let's move on and move forward quickly and aggressively with intense poise.”

Nailor says that a solid game this week begins with being more physical in practice and on the field.

“Just being more physical,” Nailor said. “Practice has been very physical the past two days, just getting after it, just not taking plays off, just pushing through the grind, just knowing that we have another game, we have more games to play and that one game is not going to affect us. We have more stuff to prove and we have stuff to get better on.”

Cornerback Shakur Brown had been playing as the nickel corner for Tucker’s new 4-2-5 defense. Last week against Iowa with his teammate Chris Jackson out with an injury, Brown was shifted to the outside. Brown is looking to lead this cornerback group by example and simply dominate the opposing receiver.

“I just want to dominate every man that steps in front of me,” Brown said.

In his homecoming trip at Iowa quarterback Rocky Lombardi struggled as he threw three interceptions. On his three interceptions, Lombardi forced passes downfield or in tight coverage, often trying to make plays when the opportunity wasn’t there.

“I think I just tried to do a little bit too much,” Lombardi said after the Iowa game. “I saw that we needed to make some plays and I probably overstepped my boundaries a little bit. It comes back to processing the play, playing each play as an individual game and that’s what we're going to do next week.”

The mistakes that were made by Lombardi and the rest of the team will need to be at a minimum for the Spartans to compete against this surging Indiana team that Tucker praised earlier this week.

“Indiana is a good football team, I like the way this team is built,” Tucker said. “They play complimentary football, offense, defense and special teams. They’re a physical football team, they’ve got a difference maker at quarterback, their receivers are very good, they have a big offensive line, a big running back and they rotate 17 guys in their front seven. In their secondary, they have really good range and they run and they hit hard. Special teams, they play hard, they've got good specialists. It's a well run football team and I can see why they are 3-0.”