3 teams Michigan State football should play with Sept. 14 open date

3. A rivalry renewed with Notre Dame

If a school like Louisiana can cancel games, Notre Dame should have no problem. The Irish play Purdue that same week but just one phone call could change that battle of Indiana schools into the next chapter of the Megaphone Trophy.

It's a rivalry that should have never gone away but thanks to money and TV deals, these teams will be lucky to play against each other twice a decade. This rivalry has everything: comebacks, overtime games, overtime games that end on fake field goals, phantom pass interference calls, even a game that is widely known as the "Game of the Century".

With tradition quickly fading when it comes to college football, it's games like this that mean more than revenue. It would be early test for both Notre Dame and Michigan State with new quarterbacks and new offensive coordinators for both teams.

While the Spartans will have to earn their way into the AP Top 25, Notre Dame will probably be ranked somewhere between 10 and 20.

It would be a good sign for Johnathan Smith to adopt Tom Izzo's "anybody, anytime, any place" mantra and would set the tone for the attitude Smith wants to bring for the Michigan State program.