EAST LANSING – Oregon might be new to the Big Ten, but not to Jonathan Smith.

The four games he played against his biggest rival as Oregon State’s quarterback.

The six games the last six seasons against the Ducks when he was the Beavers’ head coach, including his last at his alma mater before getting hired a day later to take over Michigan State’s football program. And a few others along the way.

Smith and his staff carry a ton of familiarity with playing at Autzen Stadium and against the high-powered offense of No. 6 Oregon as the Spartans make their first trip there in a decade Friday night.

“We played Oregon when I was at other universities as a coach, too. And so, I've kind of been through this before, being at a different place and the connections,” Smith said Monday. “We know through experience kind of how tough it is, that atmosphere in where we're playing at. And so we'll just try to prep our guys for a tough road environment.”

In eight tries as a player or coach, Smith has won just once in Eugene. He is 7-10 all-time against Oregon in any capacity.

Smith started four games at quarterback between Oregon State and the Ducks, winning a 44-41 overtime thriller as a redshirt freshman in 1998 and again 23-13 in 2000, both in Corvallis. He lost both times at Oregon in 1999 (25-14) and 2001 (17-14).

“Living in this state for multiple years, there’s emotion and pride,” Smith told the Eugene (Oregon) Register-Guard last year. “If you win this game, you get to talk about it for a full year. The intensity and emotions that come with it is a cool thing about college football.”

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Remaining with the Beavers as a graduate assistant, Smith helped his team win again in 2002 at home and then lose at Autzen the following year. In 2004, his first year as the quarterback coach at Idaho, Smith and the Vandals got blown out in Eugene, 48-10. Then in four seasons as offensive coordinator at Washington, the Huskies split with the Ducks – including Smith's only victory at Autzen in 2016, a 70-21 blowout. Washington also won his final meeting as an assistant, a 38-3 win in 2017, before returning to Oregon State as head coach.

In six years leading the Beavers, Smith went 2-4 with 2020 and 2022 wins in Corvallis. His most recent victory came in Dan Lanning’s first season as the Ducks’ head coach.

Last year, with the Pac-12 crumbling around them, Oregon State closed the regular season Nov. 25 at Oregon while Smith was in the midst of negotiations with MSU. The Ducks won, 31-7, behind three touchdowns from quarterback Bo Nix, who threw for 367 yards and ran for another.

A day later, Smith was announced as MSU’s head coach. He eventually brought with him six coaches from that staff – offensive coordinator Brian Lindgren, offensive line coach Jim Michalczik, running backs/co-special teams coach Keith Bhonapha, tight ends coach Brian Wozniak, defensive line coach Legi Suiaunoa and secondary coach Blue Adams.

“Obviously, their schemes the last couple of years have been consistent, and so we've studied and game planned against it,” Smith said of facing Lanning for a third straight year. “And that's a two-way street. Same with us offensively. … The offenses aren't exactly the same year in and year out, right, they're always developing. But I don't know if one side gets an advantage with it.”

Smith also poached former MSU All-Big Ten star Demetrice Martin away from Oregon, where he coached cornerbacks the past two seasons after also facing the Ducks as an assistant at five different Pac-12 schools between 2006-21.

“Once the thing is kicked off, you're approaching this as a coach on preparing the guys. And then throughout the game, you get locked in on the game,” Smith said. “And it's not just myself. We've got some other guys with connections to the place and all that. And once it's kicked off, it's a college football game that you kind of emotionally approach it the same.”

The Spartans are 3-4 all-time against the Ducks but have not won in three visits to Oregon, most recently a 46-27 Ducks win in 2014 behind eventual Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota. MSU won the rematch at Spartan Stadium the next year, 31-28, and lost the most recent meeting in the 2018 Redbox Bowl, 7-6. The Spartans lost at Autzen in 1980 and 1998, and they won at home in 1979 and 1999.

MSU (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) is on a two-game losing streak after falling 38-7 on Saturday at home to No. 3 Ohio State. With the short week to prepare for a Friday night game, Smith said the Spartans “flipped the script pretty quick,” moving their usual preparation schedule up a day.

“At the end of the day, we got to play another game in six days,” running back Nate Carter said Saturday night. “We got launch about to Oregon. ... Especially this important week, with it being short (for) Oregon, it's going to take a lot of work. So we have to go in there with a new week, a new mindset, a new confidence getting ready to play on Friday night.”

Contact Chris Solari: csolari@freepress.com. Follow him @chrissolari.

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Next up: Ducks

Matchup: Michigan State (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) at No. 6 Oregon (4-0, 1-0).

Kickoff: 9 p.m. Friday; Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon.

TV/radio: Fox, WJR-AM (760).

Line: Ducks by 241/2.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jonathan Smith preps Michigan State football for personal rival Oregon