EAST LANSING, Mich. — Trailing by 17 points at halftime, Notre Dame faced a sobering reality: A season that began with so much promise was about to be derailed by a second straight defeat.

Coming off a blowout loss to Michigan, the Irish looked beaten again — still down 16 going into the fourth quarter. Meanwhile, Michigan State looked unstoppable in front of a fired-up crowd.

"I think that at halftime the guys realized the season was starting to fall away for us," Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis said. "Everyone could feel the same thing. After the game we played last week, and now we're down big at halftime ... it was basically 'Hey fellas, what's it gonna be? Are we just going to be a bunch of also-rans or are we going to come out here and give it a chance to win the game?' "

In stunning fashion, the Irish stepped up.

Cornerback Terrail Lambert capped a furious rally by returning an interception 27 yards for a touchdown with 2:53 remaining to give the 12th-ranked Fighting Irish a 40-37 victory over the Spartans last night.

The loss shocked Michigan State (3-1) and its fans, who were convinced they were going to see the Spartans beat the Irish (3-1) for the eighth time in 10 meetings.

But it wasn't to be.

Lambert made sure of that, following up his score by ending the Spartans' hopes moments later with a juggling interception of Drew Stanton's pass in the closing seconds.

"Late in the game, I made some stupid mistakes," Stanton said.

The Irish offense also clicked late, led by quarterback Brady Quinn, who was 20 of 36 for 319 yards with five TDs against one interception.

"Give all the credit to Notre Dame," Michigan State running back Javon Ringer said. "They stepped up when they had to."