Ranking the top 5 Michigan State football vs. Notre Dame games

4. Michigan State 36 Notre Dame 28 - 2016

It's hard to look back to this game with any sort of positivity because we all know how terribly the 2016 season ended up going (3-9 - barf). But we can't deny how awesome this game and win was for Michigan State in the moment.

Michigan State was fresh off their 2015 Big Ten championship and College Football Playoff appearance and were ranked No. 12 in the country when they traveled to No. 18 Notre Dame. Sure MSU was ranked high, but there were so many unknowns about this team with all the players that graduated after the previous season.

The Spartans came out firing on all cylinders and at one point held a 29-point lead. Sure Notre Dame came back to make it a game, but the result of this game was never truly in doubt, and that's a hard thing to accomplish at Notre Dame.

Michigan State held on to win 36-28 to move to 2-0 on the year thanks in large part to the Spartan's run game. LJ Scott ran for 103 yards and a touchdown while Gerald Holmes added 110 yards and two touchdowns of his own.

We all thought Michigan State was going to compete for a Big Ten title and College Football Playoff appearance again after this win, and even though disaster struck I don't want to take anything away from this win. It was an extremely exciting time back when we all still had immense hope in the program, and this was undoubtedly one of the best wins in this rivalry when the game occurred.