In a season full of disappointing play and heartbreaking finishes, it’s not easy to find any bit of excitement to watch Penn State football each Saturday.

A lot of folks will tell you there’s nothing left to play for this season. On the surface, they might be right.

There is no denying Penn State is 3-6 and hasn’t won a game since early September. However, this Saturday, November 15, records are thrown out the window, and both teams have something to play for—the Land-Grant Trophy. Also commonly referred to as the best trophy in college football.

Penn State and Michigan State have battled for the Land-Grant Trophy 28 times since 1993, beginning when the Nittany Lions joined the Big Ten.

Penn State fans don’t really care about playing the Spartans or many teams across college football, for that matter. There is no deep history between the two programs, and the Nittany Lions have long declared themselves as “Unrivaled” across college sports. But the two universities have been tied to one another since the beginning.

When both teams step on the field at Spartan Stadium on Saturday, they are searching for their first conference win of the season. Each respective fan base will look back on the 2025 season and try to forget the disappointment, but it all can change when you have a chance to bring a trophy back to the Lasch Football Building.

Who wouldn’t want to lay everything on the line at a chance to win the majestic, 76.2-pound, wood block of a trophy?

The Land-Grant Trophy gives the players another thing to fight for this weekend. Penn State was inches away from knocking off one of the top teams in the country last weekend in Beaver Stadium (again).

No matter the last game’s result, we go again.

The players have lost their head coach, seen some of their top leaders and teammates’ seasons end due to injury, and lost six straight conference games—all but one by one score. The guys inside the Penn State locker room have been through a lot this season

The mood of all those players can be injected with some joy this Saturday by beating Michigan State on its own field. It’s a lot to ask fans to get excited about the next opponent after the expectations everyone had this offseason and the results we have seen on the field, but it’s our duty to Penn State to do just that.

Do whatever you have to do to get pumped up before 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. And if you’re having trouble getting motivated for this game, just picture yourself lifting the ugliest prettiest trophy in sports after a road win.