East Lansing, Michigan (UHND) - Notre Dame took a chapter out of Michigan State's book on their way to a come from behind 21-17 win over Michigan State snapping a 5 year losing streak t the Spartans. After giving up a touchdown from Jeff Smoker to Charles Rogers on fourth and 11 with just under two minutes to go, backup and walkon quarterback, Pat Dillingham, threw a 60 yard touchdown pass to Arnaz Battle for the go ahead score. The game wouldn't officially be over until Gerome Sapp intercepted a Smoker pass at the two yard line with no time remaining however.

It was another ugly game for the Irish who are now 4-0 for the first time since 1993, but it was a win. The win may have been costly with Carlyle Holiday going down to inury, which is why Dillingham was in the game to begin with, but Holiday expects to play in two weeks when Stanford visits South Bend. Notre Dame started off strong with an 80 play drive capped off with a Ryan Grant seven yard touchdown run on their first drive of the game, but faieled to score again until there was just under 30 seconds in the first half when Carlyle Holiday hooked up with Maurice Stovall for Stovall's first career touchdown reception and led 14-3 at half time.

The Notre Dame defense lead by Courtney Watson held Michigan's State offense in check for the first three quarters, but Michigan State woke up in the fourth and started picking the Notre Dame secondary apart. No team has moved the ball on the Irish secondary yet this year the way MSU was in the fourth quarter en route to two touchdown passes from Jeff Smoker to Charles Rogers. The first was a 38 yard strike in hte early 4th quarter when Rogers got behind Vontez Duff and Duff's deep help, Glen Earl got sucked in by the play action was not in positon.

The second Smoker to Rogers TD was set up by a Michigan State interception that gave them the ball at their own three. On the drive Michigan State marched down the field with ease until they faced a fourth and 11 from the 21. Smoker dropped back and stayed in the pocket as long as he could until he fired the ball to Rogers. Rogers had coverage all over him, but lept up and snared the ball and amazingly got one foot in bounds. At first glance it appeared he was no where near in bounds, but replays showed that he managed to get one foot down before falling out of bounds on what was one of the nicest cathces I have ever seen.

This set up the stage for Dillingham's last minute heroics. On the first play of the drive he rolled out and hit Gary Godsey for a first down. A pass interference penalty on Maurice Stovall on the next ply gave Notre Dame a first down at their own 40. Dillingham would throw an incomplete pass to Arnaz Battle on the next play. Then on 2nd and 10, Dillingham dropped back, recognized the blitz and threw the ball to an open Arnaz Battle. Battle took the ball and turned and raced toward the end zone. 60 yards later Notre Dame held a 21-17 lead. The play was eirley similar to the way Michigan State had beaten ND the previous 3 seasons (in '99 Gari Scott scored on a long pass to seal the game, in '00 Herb Haygood caught a Jeff Smoker pass on 4th and10 to win the game, and last season Charles Rogers slipped a Vontez Duff tackle en route to the go ahead score.)

The Notre Dame offense didn't look grat at times, but it got the job done and moved the ball consistantly. Ryan Grant looked very good for the second week in a row. He was on his way to a 100 yard game before suffering from an injury and having to sit out a few series. On the day he had 90 yards on 17 carries and a touchdown. Thats over 200 yards and 3 TD's the last two weeks against two good Big Ten teams. Rashon-Powers Neal had a few nice tough runs, but definitely looked like the #2 runningback out there. Grant found his holes and followed blockers well throughout the game.

One major bright spot for the Irish was freshman Maurice Stovall who had 2 catches for 59 yards. He made both catches with ease and used his big frame to sheild defenders away as he went up for the ball. He is a major weapon for this Irish team and if he can continue to improve each week, he will be a very dangerous receiver by season's end. The other freshman receiver for the Irish went into Tyrone Willingham's dog house after getting in a scrum with a MSU defender that resulted in off-setting personal fouls.

The win puts Notre Dame at 4-0 and in great position for the rest of the season. With up coming home games against Stanford and Pitt and an away game against Air Force, Notre Dame looks to be in good position to be 7-0 heading into the Florida State game in October. That is still a long ways away. but it is no longer wishful thinking, it should be expected. If this team can go 4-0 against Maryland, Purdue, Michigan, and Michigan State, it should be able to go 3-0 against Stanford, Pitt, and Air Force.