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Notre Dame vs. Michigan State prediction roundtable with the Campus Insiders staff. Breaking down what will happen in Saturday’s matchup between the Fighting Irish and Spartans.

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One of college football’s most underrated rivalries resumes on Saturday, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish host the Michigan State Spartans. Sparty looked sluggish in its opener against Furman before taking an early, Week 2 bye. Notre Dame lost a thriller against Texas in the opener, before settling on DeShone Kizer under center. In a stacked weekend, this is one more game with CFP implications.

Notre Dame vs. Michigan State Predictions

Brian Stultz

Michigan State’s fight song is way better than Notre Dame’s. Yes, I said it. Come at me, band geeks. That won’t matter in this game. The Spartans offense is not exactly running at top gear right now, but the defense should be able to keep them in it. Irish quarterback DeShone Kizer will be the difference in this one, though. Notre Dame wins, and the 90% of Irish fans who have never been to South Bend will stick their chests out with pride.

Dave Miller

The Spartans weren’t crisp in their season-opening win over Furman, but they did have an extra week to prepare for Brian Kelly’s squad, which knows it needs to run the table to have any chance at a College Football Playoff berth. Tyler O’Connor will need to expose an Irish secondary that has become incredibly thin, but he is still getting his timing down with his receivers. Over the course of the game, the Irish will take control of the battle in the trenches. MSU still has talent across the defensive front, but a lot was lost from last year’s deep group. ND outlasts Sparty once again.

Jeff Bartl

I’ve been beating myself up over this one. I went to Michigan State. I hate Notre Dame. But, I have a job to do. As much as I want to write that the Spartans will pull this one out, I’m not sure if they’ll have enough. The last time MSU went to South Bend, the Fighting Irish used an all-pass-interference offense and took advantage of multiple horrible calls to win in 2013. Hopefully the Spartans won’t have to play against the refs again. I want to say LJ Scott has a huge game and makes up for Tyler O’Conner struggling, but I just don’t know. I want to say Malik McDowell sacks DeShone Kizer three times, but I can’t say that with confidence. Actually, you know what? All of that is going to happen. Maybe I’m just being irrational, but who cares! I can’t pick against my Spartans. Michigan State 20, Notre Dame 17. GO GREEN!

Jonathan Bass

I’m staring across the cube at my co-worker, Jeff, who is a Michigan State alumnus, Sparty homer, and, not-coincidentally happens to be wearing a Michigan State shirt. It’s really tempting to troll him by saying Notre Dame wins by 40 and buries Sparty six feet under Touchdown Jesus. Alas, I can’t.

The gut says Michigan State takes this one. DeShone Kizer is electric, but he has limited weapons at wideout. Michigan State will lock down the secondary, force Kizer to win the game with his legs, and swallow up the Irish in what’ll turn out to be one of the weekend’s most exciting games.

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