East Lansing, Mich. - When senior defensive end Drew Beesley was carted off the field during the second half of Michigan State’s Sept. 25 win over Nebraska, there was a fear that that would be it.

That his season and career at MSU would be cut short with a season-ending lower-body injury.

But much like the other nine seniors who will suit up one last time in front of the Spartan faithful in Spartan Stadium on Saturday, Beesley wasn’t going out like that.

So with a showdown with Michigan looming and the fact that this was his last ride in an MSU uniform, Beesley did everything possible to make sure he would finish what he started back in 2016.

“With how I went out in the Nebraska game, you know, I just thank God every day that it wasn’t worse than what it could have been,” Beesley said. “But when they gave me that sense of hope and that sense of possibility that I could come back, I was going to take advantage of it. I was going to finish off my senior year. I wanted to establish my legacy that I wasn’t going to go out without a fight. I wasn’t going to quit and I wanted my teammates to see me do that too.’’

As a result, when No. 12 MSU (9-2, 6-2) finishes the regular season at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday against Penn State (7-4, 4-4), Beesley will finish his career as a player and not as just a sideline spectator.

That was very important for the 6-foot-2, 260-pound graduate senior who came back to MSU for a sixth season, taking advantage of the additional year granted to collegiate athletes because of COVID-19.

“It’s just a life’s lesson that you can do anything you set your mind to,’’ said Beesley, who enrolled at Michigan State as a walk-on. “All you have to do is just put in the work and have that mindset that nothing’s impossible. The odds were very, very much stacked against me when I first decided to come to Michigan State and through what I’ve accomplished and just staying in the process, trusting it and doing what I’m supposed to do on a daily basis just shows that all things are possible.’’