Michigan State had the entire country fooled. Again.

The Spartans had gone on the road and beaten a resurgent Notre Dame team, 44-41 in overtime back on Sept. 17. They were not expected to beat the Irish, much less be competitive, because at the time, Notre Dame was glowing again, off of two impressive wins against unpredictable Pittsburgh and likely Big Ten title favorite Michigan.

But in recent memory, the Spartans have developed a reputation as a team that could give unbeaten USC a run for its winning streak on any particular Saturday, then play down to the level of a far-less-than-mediocre team the following week.

So when they left South Bend, Ind., with an early season victory against the Irish, there was presumably a letdown soon to follow. Illinois was the next opponent and at the time the Fighting Illini were 2-1, but still recognized amongst the bottom tier in the conference. The Spartans fought off that notion, going into Champaign, Ill., and easily handled them 61-14.

They were 4-0 at that point, and the experts all but handed them the Big Ten title before September was finished. With his surprising play, quarterback Drew Stanton stole the heart of the state away from Michigan quarterback Chad Henne. Statistically, Stanton was among the best in the nation and had won the Heisman trophy given for a third of a season's work.

Five out of six disastrous losses later, it has comically become the same sad story about Michigan State: give it time, and its true identity will begin to take shape.

"It is not a question of talent or coaching," Penn State football coach Joe Paterno said about the Spartans drought. "When you watch them play, they have made some mistakes."

Between their players and coaches, the Spartans could equally share the blame, the way they did on Oct. 15 at Ohio State, when the Spartans had a chance to put the Buckeyes away in the first half but egregiously failed to do so.

The Spartans were in field goal range. They led 17-7 and had no more timeouts left with 24 seconds remaining in the half. They neglected to spike the ball, which would have stopped the clock, after Stanton was tackled for no gain on a second-down play.

Michigan State's coaches hustled the field-goal unit onto the field. It was literal chaos as the offense was scrambling to the sideline while the kick unit was trying to beat the clock for a 35-yard attempt.

The Spartans snapped the ball having only 10 players on the field.

The Buckeyes' Nate Salley broke through and blocked the kick. The ball was picked up by cornerback Ashton Youboty and returned for a touchdown as time expired in the first half, changing the score -- along with the momentum -- to 17-14.

Despite the unmentionable misfortune that Penn State suffered at Michigan earlier this season, no team loses a game on one play. But the Buckeyes went on to score 21 of the 28 second-half points in that mid-October matchup, apparently feeling revived at halftime.

"That's a dang coaching mistake," Michigan State coach John L. Smith said about that mishap on special teams. "The kids are playing their tail off, and the coaches are screwing it up."

Michigan State's only victory since beating Illinois in September has been against Indiana, who is usually good for a W, anyway.

All this and the Lions, at least publicly, do not appear to be taking the Spartans lightly. With five wins on the season, one more victory will put the Spartans in a bowl game.

"We have to prepare like they're gonna play their best game," junior linebacker Paul Posluszny said. "We're a little worried about these guys because of all they're capable of doing. Right now everything is on our shoulders."

The Spartans have usually been a tough to figure out. Why they usually start out strong? Why they beat teams they probably shouldn't? Why do they lose to teams they should probably dominate?

"It is just that one thing or another has happened to them that may not happen against us," Paterno said. "We have to look at them, at the kind of talent they have, and go from there."