We are back inside Notre Dame Stadium this weekend for a night game against Michigan State. Wait, a night game? Unbelievably yes, we are being subjected to a week 3 night game against a Big Ten team that hasn’t had a winning record over the past 4 seasons. Well then, surely it’s expected to be a somewhat competitive game with an improved and rising program though? No, not really. But at least it’s against a school we are all familiar with and featuring players we know well? Again, not really the case at the moment.
Michigan State (+29.5) at #3 Notre Dame
Notre Dame Stadium
South Bend, Indiana
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026
Time: 7:30 PM ET
TV: NBC/Peacock
Both teams come in at 2-0, so we at least have that going for the matchup. This will be Marcus Freeman’s first game against Michigan State, while Pat Fitzgerald returns to Notre Dame Stadium for the first time since 2014 and that win over the Irish as the coach of Northwestern.
Vegas Corner
The Irish opened up the week as nearly 30-point favorites against Michigan State. If Notre Dame covers the spread, it would be only the 5th time in series history that this rivalry was won by the Irish by 30+ points, and just the 2nd time over the last 6 decades. The last time this was achieved was back in the 1991 season when Rick Mirer accounted for 4 total touchdowns in a 49-10 victory in South Bend.
Weather Report
If waiting all day to play as a nearly 30-point favorite isn’t your cup of tea, allow me to discuss if you’re going to the game it might be yucky weather too. Temperatures should be solid, rising towards 75 degrees during the day and dropping to the mid-60’s for kickoff. However, thunderstorms and rain are both expected pretty much all day long.
Series History
Notre Dame leads 49-29-1
Once a September staple of the Notre Dame schedule, the Michigan State series has fallen to the wayside in recent years. Beginning with the 1948 season, this game was played every year through 2013 (with exceptions in 1953, 1958, and 1995-96). And yet, this will be the first meeting since 2017! That was back when Brian Kelly was still coaching the Irish and the Spartans are now on their 3rd coach since Mark Dantonio retired. We barely know each other anymore.
ND-MSU have a home-and-home for 2026-27 signed.
Typically this rivalry has the ingredients to get as testy as the Michigan series, at times. With such a long layoff in between games that animosity surely has dissipated. Notre Dame has won 5 out of the last 7 games in the series, although the 2010 “Little Giants” overtime defeat probably remains as the most memorable game between the schools over the last decade and a half.
We have a home-and-home on the books for this year and next but after that the series doesn’t have any long term future secured. Should it, though?
Fun Fact(s)
Michigan State became a co-educational institution in 1870, a full 102 years before Notre Dame finally admitted women.
Pat Fitzgerald was a volunteer assistant at Loyola Academy in Illinois for 2023-25. Both of their top recruits for 2027 in tight end Charlie Fowler and linebacker Will Metee are committed to…Boston College. That’s a Jesuit prep to college pipeline.
He’s no longer coaching.
Former Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio is currently on the selection committee for the College Football Playoff.
The Spartans went from 1941 through 2020 with at least one player taken in every NFL Draft. That streak ended in 2021. Since 2022, Michigan State has seen 11 players draft and only 4 players over the last 3 editions of the NFL Draft.
Coaching Staff
Coming off the controversial Mel Tucker era (he was suspended after two games during the 2023 season and never returned) the Spartans only gave Jonathan Smith 2 seasons before handing out a pink slip this past off-season. In steps Pat Fitzgerald who was fired after the 2022 season at Northwestern following hazing and assault allegations. While Fitzgerald did some nice things at Northwestern, this didn’t feel like an inspired hire as he was 4-20 over his final 2 seasons with the Wildcats.
Defensive coordinator Joe Rossi remains with the program and enters his 3rd year in East Lansing. Nick Sheridan was brought in from Alabama to be offensive coordinator after being co-OC and quarterbacks coach with the Tide.
Courtney Hawkins (wide receivers), Brian Wozniak (tight end), and James Adams (safeties) were retained from the previous regime, as well.
Bullough is back coaching at his alma mater.
Andrew Bindelglass moves up to rush ends coach after being an assistant with the program for a couple seasons.
John McNulty (quarterbacks, Rutgers and formerly tight ends coach at Notre Dame), Devon Spalding (running backs, Wisconsin), Nick Tabaca (offensive line, Wake Forest), Winston DeLattiboudere (defensive line, Arizona Cardinals), Max Bullough (co-DC & linebackers, coming over from Notre Dame), Hank Poteat (cornerbacks, Iowa State), LeVarr Woods (special teams, Iowa), and Joe Welsh (strength program, Central Michigan) are all new coaching additions.
Portal
As expected with the coaching transition, Michigan State had 37 players enter the transfer portal this past off-season. To supplement, the Spartans brought in 29 transfers with 247 Sports ranking their class as the 55th best in the country.
Their top 3 running backs for 2026 so far are all out of the portal, led by Cam Edwards from UConn. After 3 seasons in Ann Arbor, wide receiver Fredrick Moore has crossed the rivalry line and made 4 receptions with a touchdown for the Spartans so far. We know about former Irish wideout KK Smith leaving, but he’s only made 1 catch for 10 yards so far.
Murawski has NFL potential.
A trio of offensive linemen have been brought in this off-season and are starting including left tackle Ben Murawski (UConn), center Trent Fraley (North Dakota State), and right guard Nick Sharpe (South Carolina). They are particularly high on Murawski, as well.
Half of the starters on defense came out of the portal. Edge rusher Kenny Soares Jr. (NC State) and tackle Eli Coenen (Illinois) are up front. Plus, they’ve rebuilt their secondary with corners Tre Bell (Iowa State) and Charles Brantley (Miami), with nickel Michael Richard (Louisiana Tech) and safety Devin Vaught (Maine) too.
Both kicker Liam Boyd (Charlotte) and punter Rhys Dakin (Iowa) are new, too.
Top Players
RB Cam Edwards
Bringing over Edwards from UConn was probably the best off-season acquisition for Michigan State and certainly one of the best moves among the teams who struggled last year in the Big Ten. He was very productive at UConn with 2,688 yards from 2023-25 (at least 5 YPC in each of those seasons) and has already totaled 250 rushing yards in 2 games in 2026. That mark currently leads all Big Ten rushers.
Edwards is the 4th nationally in career rushing yards among active players.
With an average of 24 carries per game (2nd most nationally) heading into week 3, expect to see a lot of Edwards on Saturday night. Also, he’s blind in his left eye.
DT Eli Coenen
Michigan State is hoping they found a diamond in the rough. Coenen was a 0-star recruit who committed to play at Division II Bemidji State and after a decent redshirt freshman season in 2024 he moved on to Illinois but didn’t play a ton and was more of a depth piece in Champaign. Now, he’s off to a fast start with Michigan State and has 3 sacks so far in 2026. At 6’6″ and 287 pounds he’s a big and long body on the interior for the Spartans.
LB Jordan Hall
Hall was one of Michigan State’s top recruits from their 2023 class and was a prep all-star out of IMG Academy. He played immediately as a true freshman and had a break out 2025 as a full-time starter and honorable mention All-Big Ten selection. He led the Spartans in tackles last year and included 4.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles. Note, Hall did not dress against Eastern Michigan last weekend due to an elbow injury but he is expected to face Notre Dame.
Prediction
It’s weird in this modern era of college football, coming off a National Championship by the Indiana freaking Hoosiers, where parity seems to be growing–at least at the top of the sport. And yet, the drop-off to the have not’s in the sport seems wider than ever. Full realization that it’s early in the season but Michigan State sits a perfectly respectable 55th in FEI right now, up from 67th (2025), 78th (2024), and 97th (2023) in recent years. It looks like improvement!
And yet, Sparty returns to South Bend as ridiculous underdogs with the largest spread of the weekend between power programs over matchups between Georgia vs. Arkansas (+24.5) and USC vs. Rutgers (+23.5).
Michigan State lost their 3 top pass catchers from last year (receiver Nick Marsh famously transferred to Indiana after a move to Notre Dame was considered, receiver Omari Kelly is with the Bears practice squad, and tight end Jack Velling is with the Falcons practice squad). Quarterback Allesio Milivojevic has a nice skillset, decent mobility, throws a nice ball, will hit guys who are open with good accuracy, and if they can get quick development from a re-worked receiving corps this is an offense that should be much better in November.
Cam Edwards will be one of the better running backs the Irish face this season, and while left tackle Ben Murawski is a wall (6’7″ 340 pounds) I think a very under-sized and shorter right side of the State offensive line (6’1″ 306 pounds at center, 6’2″ 351 pounds at right guard, 6’4″ 296 pounds at right tackle) is potentially a liability against Notre Dame.
Milivojevic is making his 7th start this weekend.
The return of linebacker Jordan Hall should help things, although this Spartans defense looks to be mediocre at best among the Big Ten. I think you can move their defensive line off the ball (10 first downs allowed on the ground last week against Eastern Michigan) so I expect Notre Dame to move the ball well with the running backs and calm some of the panic from last week.
There are a lot of new pieces in their secondary–and while they tried to keep the ball away from Toledo in their opener–the Rockets still averaged 6.7 yards per play with 196 passing yards on just 12 completions. Michigan State has been susceptible to giving up the big play, including 6 passes of 20+ yards through 2 games.
If there’s really poor weather and it’s wet all night I’d lean toward Michigan State being able to muck things up just enough to cover the spread. However, the modern game seems completely fine unless it’s actively pouring which seems unlikely (it’s totally going to be a mess now isn’t it). If their line can’t hold up, Edwards is going to be stifled, and Milivojevic is going to be put in too many tough spots to move the ball against this stingy Irish secondary.
I’m looking for Notre Dame to break open a handful of explosive runs and keep their efficient passing game with CJ Carr at the helm humming along.
Latest update shows “potential for heavy rainfall” at night on Saturday.
We’re still a day and a half away and we’re already jinxed
No lightning delays PLEASE.
In my case, as the game starts at 1:30 am for me, weather delays, which will really screw up our crowd, will also cause me to fall asleep. Tlndma, I’ll email you to ask you to call me on the phone in case one happens and they start the game again later!
Hey if it’s delayed long enough it becomes a morning kickoff in Europe
I know this, but if it starts at say 10:30 pm for you (goodness knows, no…) that’s 4:30 am for me, hence I’m gonna need someone to wake me up 🙂 Working on it!
Duty calls ? At your service Sir.
At 830 am EST my weather says isolated or scattered T-storms til 11pm. than it gets worse.
Roger roger!
This feels like the game where Vegas has finally caught up to Freeman’s rate of covering. Even though they’ve been bad, MSU has only lost by 29.5 once in the past 2 years. I see this game playing out similarly to the Wisconsin game, especially with the weather concerns, where the first half is a bit of a slog and we pull away in the second half. Give me 31-6
A long lightning delay and even HCMF says ” Mike, run the clock and let’s get out of here.”
But, I think MSU has great trouble scoring. So, it’s going to be right at the line, me thinks. 37-7.
Im excited to be playing Sparty again! They were always my “favorite” rivalry and tended to lead to fun games.
Between the weather, Fitzgerald’s hated of us, our running game, I suspect this is a much closer game than Vegas predicts. I’m not sure MSU can score enough to upset though.
Concur with Football was a verb (was it really been meaning to ask?).
As I posted over on the Discord side, I’m kinda concerned: possible turnovers, effects on our passing game, weird bounces of a wet ball, strange penalties, are more prone to happen. And that coach spooks me a little, he carries a lot of anti-ND hate with him.
A whole preview of the Michigan State game and not one mention that it’s the 20th anniversary of the Mike Valenti rant?
FIRE MURTAUGH
I have a confession to make….I’ve never listened to the full rant…
Eric you got the TTU-Houston score right, (28-26) just the wrong team winning.
🙁