East Lansing, Mich. - Trap game?

“Not so fast my friend,’’ as ESPN college football analyst and former Indiana head football coach Lee Corso likes to say on the station’s Saturday Gameday telecasts.

Speaking of Indiana, that’s the state where the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) will be on Saturday when they visit Purdue (5-3, 3-2) at Ross-Ade Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. tilt and a chance to keep their unblemished record intact.

Michigan State is coming off an emotionally-charged triumph over hated rival and Top 10 foe Michigan. Any chance of a letdown?

“Yeah, we’ve talked about it, about how people will say it’s quote, ‘trap game,’’’ redshirt sophomore starting quarterback Payton Thorne said at the beginning of the week. “There’s nothing like that with this team because they (Purdue) are a good football team. So, we’re focused on them We’ve put the Michigan week behind us They’ve got good players on both side of the ball.’’

At stake, a chance to stay atop the Big Ten East and in the Top 5 of the College Football Playoff rankings, and the prestige that goes with it.

“As far as I know, nobody’s played any playoff games in November so we believe that it is kind of playoff football here. This is what we call championship November,’’ Thorne said. “I feel like we’ve put ourselves in a position to have a chance to have all of our goals still on the table. We’ve done our job so far but we’ve still got four games ahead of us and hopefully a few more after that. So, we’re focused on what’s ahead of us and what’s important is what we do next. Nobody’s going to remember a team for just the first eight games of the season.’’

Standing in the way of MSU’s progress and goals, a Boilermaker team that went to then-No. 2 Iowa on Oct. 6 and handled the Hawkeyes, 24-7.

A win on Saturday would make Purdue bowl eligible.

MSU holds a 36-28-3 series advantage over Purdue, including a 16-14-2 lead in West Lafayette.

The Spartans are expected to be well insulated and on guard against all of the hype that has been and is building for what could shape up to be a special season in MSU football history.

“First and foremost, we respect all of our opponents,'' Thorne said. “So, we believe every team on our schedule is a good team and in this conference, that’s fact. There’s not a team where you can just kind of roll the ball out there and say, ‘Let’s go play,’ and you go and just win the game. That’s not going to happen in our conference and against our opponents. We’re focused on Purdue, they’re a good team, they’ve got a really good defense and were focused on what we need to do to take care of business down there in Indiana.’’

In order for the Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week to move to 9-0, they will need to contain a Purdue offense that is led by 5th-year senior quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who has completed 154 of his 217 pass attempts. O’Connell has thrown for 1,551 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Junior Jake Plummer is also an option at QB, playing in six games this season and passing for 862 yards and seven scores

O’Connell’s main pass catching target is All-Big Ten candidate and junior wide receiver David Bell, who enters Saturday with 53 receptions for a Big Ten-leading 786 yards and four TDs.

“He’s one of the best,’’ MSU secondary coach Harlon Barnett said. “He’s a good football player; long, smooth, runs good routes, good ball skills. He’s got a great catch radius, so he’s going to be a challenge for us.’’

When Bell isn’t pulling in passes, the Boilermakers have three other options, who have at least 28 catches.

As a matter of fact, Purdue enters Saturday with four receivers who have caught at least three touchdowns. Junior tight end Payne Durham, who may sit out Saturday because of injury, has matched Bell in touchdown catches with four and is second on the team in receptions with 36.

The Boilermakers top running back is junior King Doerue, who has run for 363 yards and one score. Fifth-year senior Zander Horvath has added 117 yards and two scores to the run game and is back after missing several games with a lower body injury.

Purdue’s offensive line is anchored by graduate senior left tackle and UTEP transfer Greg Long and graduate senior right guard Tyler Witt, a Western Kentucky transfer.

Three of the Boilers’ starting o-linemen stand at 6-foot-5 or better.

That size has helped lead to 22.9 points and 386.6 yards of offense a game.

MSU will respond with a defense that is led by senior safety Xavier Henderson, the heart and soul of the unit.

Henderson leads the Spartans’ defense in tackles with 67, which includes eight for loss, and two pass breakups, one forced fumble and one interception.

The Spartans’ linebacking duo of junior Quavaris Crouch and redshirt freshman Cal Haladay occupy the second and third spots in tackles with Crouch at 66 tackles and Haladay at 58.

MSU defensive line, for a team that has seven interceptions, 45 tackles for loss, seven fumble recoveries and 39 pass breakups, is led by redshirt freshman defensive tackle Simeon Barrow, fifth-year graduate student defensive end Jacub Panasiuk and redshirt junior defensive tackle Jacob Slade.

Panasiuk leads the d-line unit, which got sixth-year defensive end Drew Beesley back into the rotation during the Michigan game, in tackles for loss with 8.5.

Barrow has 26 tackles, while Slade adds 25.

In the secondary, sophomore safety Angelo Grose is fourth in stops with 57. Sophomore nickel back Darius Snow and redshirt junior safety Michael Dowell are next up with 42 and 34 tackles, respectively, while senior cornerback Ronald Williams is the top tackling cornerback with 27 stops.

On offense, Thorne orchestrates the show under center with 131 completions on 213 attempts for 1,897 yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s thrown just six picks.

Thorne has also run for 96 yards and two scores.

Junior running back and Wake Forest transfer Kenneth Walker III, tops the Spartans running attack with an impressive 1,194 yards on 175 carries, while scoring 15 TDs, which includes one in the passing game.

Walker, who ran for nearly 200 yards and scored five touchdowns against Michigan, is the reigning Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and a Heisman candidate.

He’s been named the Walter Camp Football Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week and is one of 15 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award.

"Well, Kenneth has had an outstanding season. Their offense is suited exactly for him and built around him, running the football, power football, running downhill, getting it to him (in) multiple ways,’’ said fifth-year head coach Jeff Brohm. “They'll throw it when they need to and have to and mix it up, but for the most part they're going to rely on that running game to be the foundation of their team, and they've done a great job with it.’’

MSU’s offense, which is producing 444.6 yards and 34.6 points a game, boasts a receiving corps that is led by redshirt junior and Western Michigan transfer Jayden Reed.

Reed, one of the nation’s top producers in all-purpose yardage at 137.8 yards a game, leads all MSU wideouts and has caught 33 balls for 642 yards and five TDs.

Even though the Spartans may be without redshirt junior wide receiver Jalen Nailor, who leads MSU with six TD catches and has amassed 587 yards on 31 catches, because of an injured hand he suffered against Michigan, MSU has plenty of good candidates to fill Nailor’s shoes on Saturday.

Redshirt sophomore Tre Mosley is third in catches with 21 for 321 yards and should garner more targets against Purdue, while senior tight end and H-back Connor Heyward has 18 catches for 155 yards.

If Nailor can’t go on Saturday, look for sophomore wideout Montorie Foster to pick up the slack and get more reps. Foster is a solid, physical possession receiver but hasn’t shown the deep-threat ability of Nailor.

The Spartans’ veteran and deep offensive line led by is led by graduate senior center Matt Allen, senior tackle Jarrett Horst, redshirt senior guard Kevin Jarvis and graduate senior tackle AJ Arcuri.

The Boilermakers’ defense, which is surrendering just 17.1 points, good for fourth in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation, is the strength of this team.

Led by senior weakside linebacker Jaylan Alexander’s 59 tackles, which includes 3.5 for loss, PU is second in the Big Ten in passing defense and red zone defense, and fourth in third down conversions defense.

Alexander’s efforts are aided by sophomore safety Marvin Grant, who is second on the team in tackles with 43 stops.

Junior defensive end George Karlaftis tops this group in tackles for loss, with 6.5, while junior defensive tackle Lawrence Johnson and redshirt freshman defensive end Kydran Jenkins are tied for second with TFLs, with 4.5 each.

Junior safety Cam Allen spearheads the Purdue passing defense, sharing the Big Ten lead and ranking tied for second in FBS with four picks He is third on the team with 37 tackles for a D that has 10 interceptions on the season.

Junior strongside linebacker Jalen Graham adds two interceptions for a secondary that is giving up just 174 passing yards a contest, good for second in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation.

“They’ve got good DBs, good size They’re long, tall guys. They can run a decent amount,’’ Thorne said. “Seems like they’re pretty smart . You can tell they’re athletic, long, long arms, they’re physical, so we’ll have to work with that.’’

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

MSU: How MSU handles national attention and praise against a team everyone expects them to beat. Yes, there will probably be a bit of an emotional letdown but good teams are able to overcome that hurdle and handle their business going forward. While the Spartans are definitely a run first team, their challenge on Saturday will be to maintain a productive passing game against a very good pass defense in Purdue.

PURDUE: Big plays, explosive plays. That’s what the Boilermakers will need on Saturday to earn the upset win. Purdue has racked up good defensive statistics against teams that haven’t been quality passing attacks. Now, can Purdue maintain that consistency against a good Michigan State aerial game? Purdue set out to achieve some ground contributions last week against Nebraska and succeeded. Can Purdue do that for a second straight week and achieve balance for a passing attack that ranks among the top three in the Big Ten?