EAST LANSING, Mich. — Six days a week in the late summer and fall, Spartan Stadium is a slumbering nine-story giant on the vast, bustling Michigan State University campus.

But today, when the presence of an expected 73,000 to 75,000 fans rouse it to frenetic life, it will be as formidable a weapon as anything the University of Hawai'i encounters in this televised non-conference game.

At close to its 75,005-seat capacity, it will be nearly as noisy as the jets of the 777 aircraft that brought the Warrior football team across the Pacific in this six time zone Odyssey and more unforgiving than anyplace most of these players have set foot.

With metal-bleacher stands extending close to the field and the towering press box structure reflecting noise back toward the playing field, it can be an imposing place in which to be a visitor. "It can be very intimidating," said UH coach June Jones who has seen games here. Which is why the Warriors departed, for them, from standard operating procedure and practiced in an opponent's home stadium the day before a game.

More of a walk through in the 85-degree heat, it was designed to give them a nodding familiarity with the stadium though the atmosphere they encounter will be something else entirely.

Only three times in their history — at Nebraska in 1978, Iowa in 1991 and Southern California in 2003 — have the Warriors played in front of crowds of 70,000 or more.

"I wouldn't care if (last year's quarterback) Timmy Chang saw the stadium," Jones said. "He's seen every stadium (but) some of the young players (including quarterbacks Colt Brennan and Tyler Graunke) have never played in a big stadium. With 70,000 to 80,00 people, it is a real college atmosphere."

One that can get in the heads of the unfocused who get caught up in the noise and surroundings. "It can be a hard place to play, at least that's what some of the teams that come in here say," said Robert Cantrell, a Spartans' fans since 1959. "The fans are very knowledgeable and really get into the game."

From the "corner blitz" student section to the well-heeled alumni and corporations who shell out $80,000 for a 24-seat suite, they have made Spartan football an event as reflected in 39 sellouts in the past 40 games and 60,000 season ticket holders.

For 82 years they have given the Spartans a considerable homefield advantage, reflected in the 70 percent winning percentage (301-128-13) and a big boost to the bank account, bringing in $1.2 million or more per game.

The Spartan Stadium the Warriors step into has just undergone its biggest renovation, a $64 million expansion project completed last month that added nearly 3,000 seats — including 24 luxury suites.

The prospect of playing in Spartan Stadium, which he has seen only on television, "is exciting," said Brennan. "I mean, if you aren't excited by going out and playing in front of 70,000 people, something is wrong with you. That should bring out more excitement in you. More pressure to play your best."

For the Warriors today, seeing will be believing.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.