Notre Dame football is a massive favorite heading into Saturday night’s battle against the Michigan State Spartans at home.

Both teams sit at 2-0 on the season, with the Fighting Irish coming off victories against Wisconsin and Rice while Michigan State has handled a pair of Group of Five opponents. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald and the Spartans have not been truly tested yet, and Notre Dame has the opportunity to make a statement with a long list of impressive 2028 recruits set to be on campus.

The Fighting Irish are the deeper and more talented team on paper. Everyone knows it. But any team traveling to Notre Dame Stadium is going to give you their best shot, and the Spartans have several players capable of making this game competitive if Marcus Freeman’s squad overlooks them.

Here are the five Michigan State players to watch heading into Saturday night.

RB Cam Edwards

The game starts with stopping the run. Michigan State understands the talent gap, and the Spartans’ best path to keeping this game close is shortening it with long, sustained drives on the ground.

That starts with running back Cam Edwards, a transfer from UConn who ran for over 1,000 yards last season. He’s not the biggest back at around 205 pounds and not the most physically gifted runner, but he is a good one. Edwards has 250 rushing yards through the first two weeks, accounting for roughly 125 of Michigan State’s 204 yards per game on the ground.

Edwards is known for creating hidden yardage with second-effort runs. He’s a north-south runner who churns out extra yards after contact. If Notre Dame wants to run away with this one early, the defensive tackles need to create negatives in the backfield. Defensive tackles Francis Brewu, Tionne Gray, and Armel Mukam need to generate penetration, and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa looked great against Rice doing exactly that.

Creating tackles for loss is the best way to take the air out of Michigan State’s offensive game plan.

TE Jayden Savoury

Michigan State’s passing game is more efficient than explosive. The starting quarterback has 38 completions for just over 400 yards through two games, spreading the ball around to eight different players with at least two receptions. The one mismatch piece worth highlighting is tight end Jayden Savoury, a 6-5, 253-pound redshirt freshman who has eight catches for 99 yards in two games, including 63 last week.

What makes Savoury intriguing is how Michigan State deploys him. Despite his size, a lot of his reps on film show him splitting out wide. The Spartans are going to try to get him matched up against linebackers and safeties.

A player like safety Adon Shuler is a tremendous athlete, but he’s only 6-0, 205 pounds. That’s a 5-inch, 50-pound size disadvantage.

Defensive coordinator Chris Ash may look to get safety Luke Talich on Savoury as much as possible. Talich, at 6-4, 222 pounds, brings the kind of size and athleticism that could function as a tight end eraser. That matchup could define his role on Saturday night.

OG Conner Moore

The best offensive lineman Michigan State has to offer is left guard Conner Moore, who transferred from Montana State, where he was a two-year starter. Moore played mostly on the outside last season at left and right tackle but has moved inside to left guard, which feels like a better fit.

He’s a physical player who moves well. Notre Dame’s interior defensive line group of Francis Brewu, Tionne Gray, Armel Mukam, Sean Sevillano Jr., and Elijah Hughes needs to win the battle up front against Moore and the rest of that unit. Making a statement against their best offensive lineman would set the tone.

CB Charles Brantley

On the defensive side, the player to watch first is cornerback Charles Brantley. He started his career at Michigan State, showed good ball skills and solid length, then transferred to Miami and didn’t play much.

Now he’s back with the Spartans, playing mostly on the outside with the ability to slide inside to nickel. Brantley is a borderline NFL-caliber corner. I’ve talked a lot about wanting to see more production from the boundary receiver position, and wide receiver Micah Gilbert showed some promising signs against Rice. Matching up against a more talented corner like Brantley will be a real test of whether Gilbert and the rest of the receiver group can create explosive plays down the field.

DL Eli Coenen

The last player to highlight is defensive lineman Eli Coenen, who started his career at Illinois. He’s a 6-6 or 6-7, 287-pound interior defensive lineman, but Michigan State is going to use a lot of odd-man fronts and some 3-4 looks, which means Conan can line up in multiple spots. He can play 3-technique, he can play a 4i alignment.

The versatility is the concern. Coenen already has three tackles for loss and three sacks through two games, and he’s the player Notre Dame’s offensive line needs to be most aware of, especially early in this football game.

Notre Dame should handle this one comfortably if the Fighting Irish take care of business up front on both sides of the ball. Stopping the run, neutralizing Savoury, and protecting the quarterback against Coenen are the three keys. Do that, and this game gets out of hand in a hurry.