ANN ARBOR, MI -- Their head coach once famously noted, "Pride comes before the fall," in reference to the Wolverines, but how the tables may have turned. Michigan State and Michigan are currently on different trajectories, much as they were in the late-2000's when Mark Dantonio uttered that idiom.

With the rivalry set to renew on Saturday in East Lansing, Michigan is ranked second in the country, and the Spartans have lost five straight and are currently winless in the Big Ten. It's not how the prognosticators saw the season unfolding, exactly.

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While Michigan was expected to have a contending season, so, too, were the Spartans. Both were ranked highly in preseason polls, with Michigan starting at eight and the Spartans eleventh in the Amway Coaches Poll. Before the season had begun, this matchup was expected to be a veritable best of of two top teams in the Big Ten's eastern division.

So much so, that Michigan State's players did a little talking in the offseason. Their confidence remained high, as they were coming off a Big Ten championship season and played in the second ever College Football Playoff. Michigan State linebacker Jon Reschke said, in a tweet that's since been deleted, "100 days till they get locked in our stadium for 60 minutes again" [@J_Reschke33, July 21, 2016]. A few of his fellow teammates followed suit:

Since my boys tweeting about it.. Y'all boys got 100 days until y'all feel the same pain y'all been feeling.. #-48 I ain't forgot — RJ Williamson (@RogerThat_26) July 21, 2016

Michigan All-American senior cornerback Jourdan Lewis noticed this, and said that he chose not to involve himself in the war of words.

"They actually did [trash talk us], in the summer," Lewis noted. "They had this little series of tweets. '100 Days.' 100 days until we're locked in their stadium and stuff like that. I didn't really pay attention to it. I was just ready for the game.

"People tag me in stuff like that, but it's kind of annoying. Let's focus on the game. I'm not trying to chirp you. Let's just play the game, have the game on the field instead of on Twitter."

Lewis and his second-ranked Wolverines will indeed be locked in Spartan Stadium for 60 minutes on Saturday, in a game in which Michigan is currently favored by 21.5, according to the Westgate SuperBook.

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