Brutal as the stretch has been, MSU can still salvage its season. An uncharacteristic two-game homestand in Big Ten play gives the Spartans a chance to flip the outlook on the year, or bury any hope of a bowl game for the fifth straight season.

“When things don’t go your way, that frustration has got to become motivation. That’s the only way to approach it,” Fitzgerald said at Monday’s press conference.

It’s no secret the clock has sped up for coaches rebuilding programs, especially after Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti won a national championship in just two seasons at a program with the most losses in Football Bowl Subdivision history.

That’s an extreme that not every coach could be held to, especially Fitzgerald. He hadn’t coached a game since 2022 and, unlike other coaches in the transfer portal era, had no players or staff to bring with him. Everything started from scratch.

Being at a disadvantage doesn’t totally let him off the hook. Any coach in a rebuild needs to show signs the team is making progress, and the simplest sign is winning. That opportunity arrives Saturday, giving the Spartans arguably their best shot at a breakthrough the rest of the way.

Illinois, like MSU, is 2-3 and one of seven Big Ten teams still winless in conference play. The Fighting Illini own one of the conference’s worst defenses, allowing 381.8 yards and 26 points per game. Their offense hasn’t been much better, averaging 18 points against Big Ten opponents.

The biggest sign of struggle came last week, when Illinois lost its homecoming game 24-17 to a Purdue team that hadn’t won a Big Ten game since Nov. 25, 2023.

But MSU’s offense, averaging 8 points in Big Ten play, will need to find answers quickly if the Spartans want its first conference win.

“You got to create explosive plays, and you need to convert on third down and in the red area, and if you do that, you’re going to score points,” offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan said at Tuesday’s press conference. “We need to do a better job there.”

Following Saturday’s matchup with former Spartan quarterback Katin Houser, MSU will face another when Northwestern and former MSU quarterback Aidan Chiles arrive in East Lansing next week.

Taking down the Wildcats will be a taller task. They’re 3-1, with blowout wins over Colorado and Penn State and a six-point road loss to No. 7 Indiana as their only blemish. The positives for MSU: Northwestern is yet to win on the road, and there’s the potential emotional X-factor of Chiles returning to a school where he started 20 games.

Winning both games would inject life back into the program and boost the Spartans to 4-3, a reasonable position to chase a bowl game. That’s especially true with Michigan, Washington and Rutgers still on the schedule. All three teams are winless in conference play and bottom five in the league in scoring.

MSU gets a bye week before it faces Michigan in Ann Arbor, hosts Washington and closes the regular season at Rutgers.

Meanwhile, going 0-2 against Illinois and Northwestern essentially kills any chance at a bowl game in Fitzgerald's first year.

That would send the Spartans to Pasadena, California, at 2-5 to face No. 21 UCLA, one of the nation’s highest-scoring offenses at 44.8 points per game.

Splitting the homestand 1-1 would leave the Spartans between both scenarios, with a bowl game still possible. But 2-0 would be a huge step for this season and the overall rebuild. 

“You get the privilege to play at Michigan State. The privilege to play in the Big Ten. The privilege to compete against Illinois. If you’re not fired up to do that, then you probably shouldn’t play,” Fitzgerald said.

MSU (2-3) will look to win the first game of its two-game homestand against Illinois (2-3). Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Spartan Stadium. The game will air on FS1.