That game against Notre Dame looms over Michigan State's program right now, but the focus is still on Eastern Michigan.

MSU started 1-0 last Friday after a 30-20 victory over Toledo. The Spartans will face their second MAC foe in as many weeks this Saturday against the Eagles. Kickoff that day is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network. Below are five of the headliners on Eastern Michigan's roster, and likely the players Michigan State is game-planning for the most:

QB Noah Kim

The big storyline this week is the return to East Lansing for quarterback Noah Kim, who started five games at MSU during the 2023 season. He's the first of three former Spartan quarterbacks who will play at Spartan Stadium for another team this season. MSU hosts Katin Houser and Illinois on Oct. 10 and then Aidan Chiles and Northwestern on Oct. 17.

Kim is a seventh-year senior now in his second season as EMU's starter. He led the MAC in passing yards during his first year in Ypsilanti with 2,817, also notching 18 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions. He's thrown for 453 yards, three touchdowns, and just one interception through two games this year.

"I just think it's what you see with a lot of guys: he's mature," said Spartan defensive coordinator Joe Rossi, who coached against Kim at Minnesota in 2022. "He's in command of the offense. He does a good job of audibling. He does a good job calming the o-line down. He's accurate with the ball. I think where he's taken a step from in his younger career until now is that you can see he values the ball."

It's tough to act like this is the same program Kim left behind after that 2023 season. Michigan State has gone through a whole other coaching era since he left, and only seven players on the entire 110-player roster were teammates with Kim at MSU.

WR Nick Devereaux

Eastern Michigan's top receiver is Nick Devereaux. He's the Eagles' top-rated player in the College Football 27 video game at an 83 overall, and that's for good reason. Devereaux was an All-MAC Third Team honoree last season after leading EMU with 510 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Phil Steele had him as a preseason All-MAC First Team guy this year.

"No. 2 is a guy that's an all-conference player," Rossi said in reference to Devereaux and his jersey number. "Was all-league last year, all-league this year. They wanna get him the ball vertically down the field."

RB Amareon Blue

Eastern Michigan's top running back this season appears to be Amareon Blue. He's carried the ball 23 times for 136 yards and a touchdown during the Eagles' first two games of the season, and he also has five receptions for 34 additional yards.

Blue being EMU's top back is a bit of a surprise. He's a second-year player who appeared in only two games and didn't get a touch last season. It also means he's getting carries ahead of Braydon Bennett, who had 1,964 rushing yards and 24 rushing touchdowns at Coastal Carolina from 2020-24. Bennett was at Virginia Tech last year, but he only got four carries for eight yards across just four games. He's gotten 12 carries for 47 yards and one touchdown with the Eagles.

LB Zach Mowchan

Sixth-year linebacker Zach Mowchan is Eastern Michigan's top tackler by quite a bit. He's already racked up 25 total tackles (11 solo, 14 assisted) this season. He had 14 in EMU's Week 0 opener against Sacramento State, and he then had 11 in the Eagles' recent loss to San Jose State.

Mowchan has made a big leap in that regard. He finished 2025 with 43 tackles across nine games, which ranked seventh on EMU's team. If he plays on Saturday the way he's played through two contests in 2026, he'll be a tough person in the second level of Eastern Michigan's defense to get past.

S Jason Marshall

One of EMU's stars on the back end is safety Jason Marshall. He's the second-highest-graded player on Eastern Michigan's defense so far, entering Saturday with a 77.5 overall grade and a 79.4 coverage grade. Marshall finished 2025 with 64 tackles, which ranked third on the team last year.

He's already had an interception this year against Sacramento State, and Marshall had a pair of pass defenses last week against San Jose State. Michigan State's offense will be seeking some more explosive plays this week after having no plays longer than 26 yards against Toledo. Marshall will be tasked with preventing that.