For the second straight week, Michigan State will be without its best player.

This time, MSU’s defense might miss him a little more than it did against Rutgers.

Malik McDowell, the Spartans’ star defensive tackle, did not dress for Saturday’s game against Ohio State. The junior will be sidelined for the showdown in East Lansing.

McDowell hurt his ankle two weeks ago in a loss at Illinois. Mark Dantonio didn’t list him on the depth chart during the week, but he maintained that he was going to be a game-time decision.

The Spartans will need to play their best game of the year to pull off a monumental upset on Saturday. They’ll be without McDowell and Jon Reschke, who was announced out for the year last week. Both of those players were monumental in MSU’s upset in Columbus last year.

Kickoff is set for noon ET at Spartan Stadium.