Michigan State head coach Jonathan Smith on Michigan Rivalry: 'The most meaningful game on our schedule'

Michigan State is in the midst of a four-game losing streak, most recently losing 38-13 at then No. 3-ranked (now No. 2-ranked) Indiana, but the next opportunity to end that skid comes at home against rival Michigan on Saturday in East Lansing (7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC).

MSU head coach Jonathan Smith enters his second matchup in the intense rivalry after learning lessons from the 24-17 loss to the Wolverines in Ann Arbor in 2024. Make no mistake about it, Smith and the Spartans are putting a huge emphasis on Saturday's contest, and Smith believes it could be exactly what MSU needs to reenergize itself after the losing streak.

"We all know what this week is," Smith said on Monday. "Huge rivalry week, which is great — again, one of the best things about college football — this game being the most meaningful game on our schedule. We did switch the flip pretty quickly as a team (after the loss to Indiana), digested some of the things from the film and then moved forward.

"The game (versus Michigan) means a ton to our players, but also former players, the program, you think about alumni, all of it. It's a very important, meaningful game, so that creates a huge opportunity for us. Especially kind of where we're at this season — it hasn't gone our way, all those things — I think it comes at a good time to galvanize this group and have a great week of work getting ready for Saturday night."

Of course, the 2024 season was Smith's first year at the helm for the Spartans, and last year's matchup was his introduction into just how heated the rivalry between the Spartans and Wolverines is. Smith learned a lot from being in the game and seeing what the atmosphere was like in Michigan Stadium. Now he is taking what he learned and using it all to motivate his team in 2025.

"Leaving the experience with the passion of it, of the actual game," Smith said about what he learned from the 2024 matchup with the Wolverines. "Lead up and post (game), I learned that going in. I think about the preparation of using more of that fuel, that passion, for our preparation, and then obviously playing with it within a disciplined approach. In football, it does, it comes down to doing your job at a high, high level. So we want to foster a lot of that fuel to be able to play our best."

Smith went on to elaborate on how his understanding of the rivalry has developed since last season and what he took away from the loss to Michigan in 2024. The result and energy of last year's contest has stayed with Smith one year later.

"I can feel, still, a bitter taste in (my) mouth after that one, after experiencing it," Smith said about the loss to Michigan in 2024. "I'm talking particularly in the 60 minutes of it — opportunities we had, we didn't execute, (but) I'm not here to recap the game — being in that environment leaves a bad taste in your mouth that has not gone away."