EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Jeff Smoker stood in front of the room, smiling a broad and triumphant smile.

His deep green jersey was soaked with sweat to an almost black color, giving a slight indication of the struggle it took to get there, even if his glowing eyes didn't.

Smoker, the Michigan State senior quarterback and Manheim native, finally seemed to exorcise the Penn State demon haunting him, throwing for 357 yards and four touchdowns in the Spartan's 41-10 victory on Saturday.

"You got off easy today," said a Michigan State spokesperson as the 6-foot-3 signal caller strode tall through the tiny door of the trailer.

In his final game of his career at Michigan State's Spartan Stadium, Smoker certainly looked as light and easy as the breeze that swept over the field.

The school's all-time leading passer completed 29 of 50 passes for his 10th career 300-yard passing performance.

For Smoker, the road to Saturday's post-game love fest started several hundred miles before the noon kickoff. He missed the final five games of the Spartan's 2002 season after admitting a substance abuse problem.

So, on the field, things may be a great deal easier for the beleaguered senior. At least, he made it appear so.

The game started well for Smoker, who completed four of his first eight passes and then found wideout Kyle Brown on a quick hitch. Brown slipped inside cornerback Rich Gardner and then shook off cornerback Anwar Phillips, racing the final 40 yards untouched for an 80-yard touchdown reception.

It was the longest scoring play of the season against Penn State, but Smoker wasn't yet ready to pull down the canopy on the aerial Big Top.

In the second quarter, Smoker found tight end Eric Knott with a 14-yard touchdown pass through the middle of the field, beating linebacker Paul Posluszny and end John Bronson for the score.

In the second half, Smoker had a 17-yard scoring toss to Jerramy Scott and then found Jason Teague alone in the back of the end zone for his fourth touchdown pass of the game.

Michigan State football coach John L. Smith then allowed Smoker one final play at home, a handoff, before No. 9 left to a standing ovation from the 75,000-plus fans still in the stadium.

"We were trying to direct a movie," Smith said. "That's what they do in the movies."

Perhaps more notably, however, the Pennsylvania native who spurned the Nittany Lions in a recruiting battle four years ago got his first-career victory against Penn State. He was previously 0-2 as a starter against the Lions and did not play in the 61-7 loss at Beaver Stadium a year ago.

Saturday's performance against the Lions put Smoker over the 3,000-yard passing mark for the season. He is the first Michigan State quarterback to do so. It also moved him past former University of Illinois quarterbacks Kurt Kittner and Jack Trudeau for fifth-place all-time in career passing yards in the Big Ten Conference.

In the end, however, Smoker said the game was a great send-off after four years in East Lansing. His family and several fans from back home were in attendance, but Smoker said he wasn't sure just how many people there were.

"I think there were a lot more people here than I realize," he said.

Which, in and of itself, gave Smoker a reason to smile.