Yes, the Spartans won, but their injuries won't make it easy against Southern Cal

EAST LANSING — Now comes the real test of how Jonathan Smith is building his Michigan State football program.

To compete in the Big Ten, Smith knows resilience is required. His players must push through the adversity that arrives when the nonconference season ends and the conference competition begins

That barrier arrives this week, with the Spartans opening conference play with multiple challenges stacked against them.

Late at night – 11 p.m. Eastern time (on Fox) on Sept. 20 . On the road – at the LA Memorial Coliseum. And against a talented and surging USC team that already has one in the Big Ten win column – the Trojans rolled over Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana, on Saturday, Sept. 13.

And the Spartans might have to do it short-handed.

The list of the wounded from MS