The up and down nature of Michigan State football the past couple of years makes it easy to overreact to every win or loss this year. And that makes sense, because it’s been very difficult to get a real feel for the 2018 Spartans.

Just when we thought they weren’t very good at all and even making a bowl game was going to be difficult, they went to Penn State and stole a win against the eighth-ranked team in the country. And did it impressively.

So now, all of a sudden, it’s a season again. The Spartans are up to 4-2 overall now, and 2-1 in the Big Ten with Michigan rolling into town this Saturday for the annual in-state brawl.

The second the Penn State game ended, the Spartans were back in the middle of a big season again. The celebration didn’t last long. Their thoughts went straight to Michigan.

“Oh, we’re working on next right now,” Michigan State defensive tackle Raequan Williams said Saturday night. “We got a big opponent coming in next week. And everybody knows we’re gonna be ready for that game. Everybody on this team is gonna be ready.”

It’s amazing how much things change in a week. Because of all the injuries and he inability to make big plays late, this season was starting to trend toward 2016’s ugliness that ended in a 3-9 record. Instead, quarterback Brian Lewerke and the offense put together a game-winning drive in the final minute to win 21-17.

“I think this demonstrates the heart and character of our football team,” Spartans safety Khari Willis said. “We had some adverse situations that happened in the first few weeks that maybe some people didn’t expect — especially not us. But we were able to come out and bounce back against an excellent, championship-worthy opponent.”

Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio agrees. The effort has been going in every week, the results are what finally changed.

“We try and put that into our thought process. We talk about it a lot,” he said. “But at the end of the day, we gotta have players that can make the plays and think collectively on their feet and make good decisions. And make the plays — you have to make the plays.”

It’s Michigan week now, with a whole new spin on it. Suddenly, a win against the Wolverines changes the entire Big Ten East race.

“It’s a great rivalry week, a great rivalry game,” Dantonio said. “I don’t worry about peaking too early (after the emotional Penn State win). We can contain that. We just need to do our job on Saturdays.”

There are still plenty of issues with this Spartans team, of course, and some of them could exposed Saturday against Michigan, a team that’s won six games in a row and is up to No. 6 in the country in this week’s AP poll.

But we thought Penn State would expose those MSU issues, and they didn’t, A better running game is needed, but it’s a tough ask when your offensive line is banged up and your best running back, LJ Scott, hasn’t played in weeks.

“We’ve got to find a way to run the football,” Dantonio said. “I don’t think that’s earth-shattering. I don’t think I’m letting the cat out of the bag there, am I? We’re constantly looking for answers, that’s for sure.”

There’s still work to be done, Thankfully, and suddenly, it’s become meaningful work.