The Land-Grant Trophy will be awarded to the winner of the Penn State-Michigan State football game this Saturday. Click photo for larger image. More Coverage: PSU Notebook: Paterno wants Robinson mentioned among Big Ten's best PSU's Posluszny a Lombardi finalist

Every year, Penn State or Michigan State -- whichever team wins the contest, or perhaps whichever team has spare closet space in its football complex -- earns possession of an asymmetrical stanchion called the Land-Grant Trophy, an eyesore award that basically looks like an oversized Rubik's Cube after five minutes in the mouth of a rottweiler.

Somehow, this unique object -- outfitted with two shelves, three figurines (including a model Spartan and Nittany Lion) and two photographs of the campuses -- fittingly represents the formal rivalry between Michigan State and Penn State, two programs that meet Saturday in a contest that promises a collision of uncommon story lines.

The two teams have arrived at one similar state -- desperation -- through dissimilar means. The Spartans (5-5), ranked 11th in The Associated Press poll at the end of September, have dropped five of their past six games and must win Saturday to gain bowl eligibility. Players, this week, have said they cannot afford to lose. No. 5 Penn State (9-1), unranked at September's end, travels to East Lansing knowing a victory will ensure its trip to a BCS bowl. The Lions, too, have said they cannot afford to lose.

All of which guarantees one thing: One squad will leave Spartan Stadium with a tremendous load still on its shoulders. The other squad, having packed up the Land-Grant Trophy, will leave with a tremendous load packed somewhere into the cargo space of its team bus.

"We have a big football game on our hands. What else can I tell you?" Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "They want to go to a bowl bid and we want to win the Big Ten championship. What are you going to do?"

The Spartans, at least in recent seasons, annually plot their progress (or lack thereof) with points of extreme highs and extreme lows. Some call the football season a marathon. Michigan State's is a bungee jump. After crushing Illinois, 61-14, Sept. 24, the Spartans boosted their record to 4-0. They were the darlings of the Big Ten. Of course, per usual for this unpredictable program, the Spartans' unraveling corresponded with the exact moment when the first college football experts began saying, "They're for real."

They weren't. They lost heartbreakers in back-to-back weeks against Michigan and Ohio State, and since then, even the vultures of the Big Ten have picked away at what's left of the rotting.

"It's been a little bit of a trying year," Michigan State coach John L. Smith said yesterday. Then, in the next breath, he uttered a comment pointing directly at his team's chronic inconsistency: "No worse than some of the other years we've experienced."

Then again, inconsistency is also Michigan State's biggest threat, because historically, just when other Big Ten teams leave the Spartans for dead, that's when they jump up, surprise some highly ranked power and demonstrate that their whole dead charade was only a trap. Last season, Michigan State crushed then-undefeated Wisconsin, 49-14, Nov. 13. In 1997, the Lions were 9-1 when they traveled to Spartan Stadium. They lost, also 49-14, to an opponent that had just dropped four of its previous five games.

Because of Michigan State's unpredictability, Penn State has only one choice -- to assume the Spartans will play at their highest level. Led by quarterback Drew Stanton, the team is fifth in total offense in Division I-A.

"You never know what team is going to show up on the field, so you have to play Michigan State like they're the best team there is," Penn State defensive end Matthew Rice said. "We're not preparing for a Michigan State with the record they have. We're preparing for Michigan State like they have an undefeated record."

"They are an extremely surprising team," linebacker Paul Posluszny said. "On any given day, they can beat any team in this conference."

Most telling, Michigan State is 9-1 in its past 10 games against teams ranked in the top-10. That streak began with the 1997 upset of Penn State and continued, despite a pattern that regularly saw the Spartans flip-flop from tame to terrifying, sometimes in the span of days.

Because of the Land-Grant Trophy, established in 1993, the Michigan State-Penn State matchup counts officially as one of the Lions' rivalry games. Paterno said yesterday that the Spartans were "the only [team] that really embraced" Penn State upon its entrance in the Big Ten.

When Paterno was asked if he considered Michigan State a true rival, his several-minute answer, condensed now into a tale-of-the-tape, referenced three former Spartans coaches; mentioned gentlemen by the name of Duffy and Bubba and Biggie; cited the years 1948, 1949, 1954 and 1955; spun at least three distinct anecdotes; and somehow included stories about Barnesboro, Pa., and Conemaugh Township ... all of which became Paterno's way of saying, basically, Yes, the Spartans are a rival.

A strange one.