Dantonio Doesn’t Feel Finality in Notre Dame Series; Feels ‘Ahead’ in Preparation

Coming off of a bye week, Mark Dantonio feels good about where his team is at preparation wise in advance of a big nationally televised game against Notre Dame.

"Well, we're ahead in terms of our preparation, I think that's one of the things, as game time approaches, they (Notre Dame) catch up" Dantonio said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. "Let's see if we can go 3-0".

The three win mark would match last season's total and doing so without a blemish on the record so far would obviously build even more confidence for a young Spartans team heading into conference play, and they will likely need it with a tough opening slate in the B1G against Iowa and then on the road for Michigan and Minnesota back to back.

The Spartans will be in primetime on FOX on Saturday and Dantonio has stressed to some degree how important this game is but only for what it will do for their season. Dantonio did not talk to his team about this being their last crack at Notre Dame (next scheduled game in 2026), though he has taken it to heart personally.

The game on Saturday will feature a lot of talent on the field featuring heavily on dual threat quarterback Brandon Wimbush. Dantonio as well as linebacker Chris Frey were asked about that.

Brian Lewerke was also available and shared his thoughts ahead of the Spartans first primetime game of 2017 and how he sees the Notre Dame defense.

Michigan State hosts Notre Dame in Spartan Stadium for the last time in almost a decade on Saturday. Catch all the action from this classic rivalry game on your home for Spartan football, Classic Rock 94.9 WMMQ and Lansing's Big Talker 1240 WJIM.