Josh Metellus has waited a long time for Michigan football's game Saturday at No. 7 Penn State.

Roughly two years, in fact.

Metellus was a sophomore in 2017, when the Wolverines traveled to Beaver Stadium with a 5-1 record, looking for a marquee victory over a highly ranked opponent.

Things went wrong from the start, when Saquon Barkley exploded for a long touchdown on the second play from scrimmage. The Nittany Lions trounced U-M, 42-13 — it remains the most lopsided loss of Jim Harbaugh's tenure at Michigan.

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With two losses to divisional opponents, the Wolverines' hopes of winning a Big Ten title or reaching the College Football Playoff were effectively ended.

Metellus hasn't forgotten that.

“Every loss sticks with me,” he said Tuesday night. “That one really stuck, because that could’ve been a real defining part of our season. We lost that game and we went downhill from there.”

For No. 16 Michigan, there are many parallels between its previous trip to Beaver Stadium and Saturday's contest. This year's game will also be at night, with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. It will be another Whiteout, and ESPN's College GameDay will be there.

The Nittany Lions once again appear formidable, with a perfect record and a top-10 ranking. The Wolverines' season, meanwhile, is on the brink after a 35-14 loss at Wisconsin on Sept. 21. Another defeat, and the chances of winning a conference title become extremely slim.

“Every game from now on is important to us," Khaleke Hudson said, “to where we want to be at the end of the season.”

Last season, former defensive end Chase Winovich had a name for the three-game stretch that started with Michigan's 38-13 win over Wisconsin on Oct. 13: the "revenge tour."

The Badgers, Michigan State and Penn State had defeated the Wolverines in 2017. They delivered the payback to all three, but especially against the Nittany Lions, a 42-7 pummeling at Michigan Stadium.

There had been hard feelings, not only stemming from 2017's deflating loss but also because of the end of that game. According to Winovich, the Wolverines felt as if Penn State had tried to run up the score late.

Based on what happened last season, it would seem that Michigan got its revenge. But Metellus says the Wolverines haven't “finished the payback.”

“Playing there, losing there, it still hurts, regardless of if we won last year,” he said. “Because we’re going back, and last time we were there, we lost. We’ve got nothing to show for it, being there, so it’s still the same feeling of revenge going back into their place.”

Metellus and his teammates are well aware of the similarities between Saturday's game and their previous trip to Beaver Stadium.

"It’s going to help me bring back the same emotion I felt leaving that game," he said. "Basically, everybody else that was here, we’re still going to have that same emotion once we get into that atmosphere, once we see what’s going on and feel a big stage. I feel like everybody’s going to come out and play.”

Contact Orion Sang at osang@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @orion_sang. Read more on the Michigan Wolverines and sign up for our Wolverines newsletter.