On his bye week

It was really good. Got to go to San Francisco, the organization invited back the 2012 team and honored the team and a bunch of the guys came back. I was super happy to see the team get honored. They don't bring back teams, you gotta be pretty good. Just being with the guys, these days are long and the years are short, but so many good memories. Super interested in our team, which was cool. They all knew Blake Corum and they watch a lot of the game, talk about Mazi and Mike Mo and some of the guys. It was great, how much they said they follow us and things like that. A couple of guys were even wearing their blue-collar shirts. That was big. That was amazing. A lot of fun.

On any stories he heard that he glad he didn't know as a coach

No, not really. We had a lot of fun. Worked so hard. Guys worked hard but we all had a lot of fun doing it. Not a guy on there that you didn't respect and appreciate and love. To a guy, they were all just a bunch of great guys. A really happy experience. Justin (Smith) was a guy that was—he had all the influence. Hey, you need to get stronger. All you guys, get out of the training room. They nickname him The Cowboy, to me, the most underrated player that has maybe ever played in the NFL. He was just great. So strong. There were guys that we couldn't, especially the new tackles, you're going to need some seasoning here, you can't go against Justin. Justin, man, he'd dump you on your back. We don't want the quarterback getting hurt, falling on his legs or something. He was a great teammate. Truth be told, the leadership and the culture, so much of it was Justin Smith.

On how much he shares the experiences with the 49ers with the team now

I bet 2031, we're going to have a pretty darn good 10-year reunion. Let's make it 2032 as well.

On the young players that haven't played much this season

There's so many guys that are just coming along so good. Maybe they've got a couple of veteran players playing ahead of them right now in their position. You can tell they're going to be really good in the future. Might as well get them ready before they need to be ready because it could be a next man up situation going down the stretch here. Thought it was really productive week all the way around. Ronnie Bell said it earlier in the week, stood in front of the team, just be where your feet are. Whether that's in meetings, whether that's in practice, whether that's in the weight room, there's a great vibe. I think the guys are—that resonates with all of us. Really good week under our belt. Really intensified coming into this week. You just sense it and know it. It's a big game. Everybody knows it. Everybody wants to win. Coaches on both sides, players on both sides. That's the kind of thing that can make or break your season. You want to win this game. There's a real bounce in their step and guys are attacking everything so far.

On whether the loss to MSU in 2021 still resonates with the team

Oh yeah. We watch it. Nobody has watched the highlights of that game and the film of that game more than we have. We watch it. Also this year's tape, etc. You really want to just know them. You want to master what they're doing so you can use it against them. I'm sure they're doing the same thing up the road, no question about it. It's going to be a physical game, it's going to be situation football going to play in big. Not making penalties. Everybody talks about how ramped up it's going to be. Coaching that, too, because anything can swing a game like this. In every aspect, getting as prepared as possible. You might say, 'Well, that's what you should be doing every week.' That's what we do. We do that every single week. Win the next game, that's our approach. If things have tailed off in any regard that way, it shoots right back up to 10-out-of-10. Everybody, all hands on deck for this one.

On making sure the emotions don't get out of control

It's a huge situation. It's important as any other situation that you can possibly think of. It's a fact, the second guy, the guy who retaliates, gets called and gets the penalty. You just keep showing the clips over and over and over again, talking about it. As much discipline as that takes not to react if somebody is throwing the punch or giving you the late push or said something to you, whatever. To me, is situational as situational gets.

On how much he leans on the upperclassmen to prepare the underclassmen for the MSU game

They're doing that within the position groups but we always have a player that comes up every day after practice for some wise words. That's one of the messages that comes up.

On who has stood out as being insightful

When it's really good, the guys will say, 'Top five, top five!' I'll get that list to you. Everybody has a great message and everybody has got a perspective, everybody has got a story. I love it when the guys come up. They think about it and they've got something good prepared. Something positive for the team that they can share with the guys. It's always good, it's always really good.

On Michigan State

I see a real good football team. Probably the best receiving corps that we've faced. Team that's got—they're healthy and they've got guys playing in the right position. They've moved guys around and I think they pose a lot of problems. Special teams, this is a fantastic returner. On defense, they can get the ball out. Physical football team and they're going to be like our guys. Going to be ready to play, they're going to play all out, play their hearts out. It's going to be classic two opposing wills going at each other.

On Peyton Thorne

He's an accurate thrower, really good stature in the pocket. Slippery getting out of the pocket, he can run. Thows well on the run. Has a lot of experience. Played really well against us. Expect him to be confident and we're going to have to play good, it just comes down to that. Whether it's defending them or when we're on offense or when we're on special teams, we're going to have to play good, we're going to have to play our best. I know I say that every week, it's so true. You have to play good.

On Jayden Reed

Fast, plucks the ball out of the air. As good as anybody at the 50-50 balls. You go up and get it. Tracks it extremely well. Good runner with the ball after the catch. He doesn't go down easy, either. He isn't looking to go out of bounds or go down, always making a cut, always keeping it alive. Gotta cover him.

On whether the rushing stat holds true in the rivalry

That's a big one all the time, right? I think that'll be a big factor in this game. It's proven to be. Hold on to the ball, too. Not turning the ball over. Being good on third down, being good in the redzone. Being good in short-yardage. How efficient the quarterback is. Those are easily the biggest ones.

On whether it's difficult to prepare for three different styles of running backs

There's kind of a fastball, curve kind of situation when you have really good backs that you're going against because nobody really has the same two guys having the same running style. That's something they had success doing last year, something that we want to defend much better this year.

On who sticks out on MSU's defense

Their front, they've got guys that are strong. They've got the strong guy, they've got the really good pass rush guy, they've got number 4, has got an incredible knack of getting the ball out, punching the ball and creating turnovers. He's been moved around a little bit and you can tell that he's at his best position now. Experienced. Seniors, fifth-year seniors, sixth-year seniors. Very good group, very healthy group now. Create a big challenge.

On J.J. McCarthy

I think every game he plays, every time on task. He's playing and he's learning. He doesn't repeat mistakes. He doesn't linger on them, either. I think it's good. He's got some good experience under his belt. You don't have to worry about J.J. being ready to play, he's got a bounce in his step. He does every day, I wish I could tell you it's different this week but it's not with him. You could be having a walkthrough and he's like a kid in a candy store with a bounce in his step. Chomping at the bit to play.

On whether there's anything he needs to do to calm his guys down in big games

I think one of the things that really helps the players is when they know how much the team is counting on them. Their family, their brothers in the locker room, they can tell each of the guys on the team want it. That is the one thing that I've found can really elevate a player's play. When they know the team is relying on them, depending on them. They rise to that level, they rise to the moment. Junior Colson, he knows. He feels it that the rest of the guys on the team are like, 'Hey we gotta win this one and we're counting on you to do it.' He's the kind of guy who is not afraid of that big stage. He's one of the types of guys that their play gets elevated in these type of games.

On how much he enjoys moments like these

It's the best part. When competition is the best part, this is the best part. These rivalry games.