EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Just over a month after being held to single digits by an FCS team, Northwestern has solved a lot of problems offensively.Justin Jackson rushed for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and the Wildcats moved the ball almost at will after a slow start, beating Michigan State 54-40 on Saturday night to hand the Spartans their fourth straight defeat.Clayton Thorson threw for 281 yards and three TDs for the Wildcats, who rallied from an early 14-0 deficit. Michigan State (2-4, 0-3 Big Ten) is now mired in its longest losing streak in coach Mark Dantonios 10 seasons at the helm.Northwestern has won three of four since starting the season with losses to Western Michigan and Illinois State. The Wildcats managed only seven points against Illinois State, but that seems like a long time ago now that theyve scored 38 against Iowa and 54 on the defending Big Ten champions.Our guys have really been grinding, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. Earlier in the year we werent a very good team. ... We could either pout and feel sorry for ourselves and start to point fingers, or we could just stay on the grind and keep the pedal down.The Spartans hadnt lost four in a row since 2006, and this was the most points theyd allowed since a 56-21 loss to Wisconsin in 2003.Northwestern held Michigan State to 3 yards of offense in the second quarter.Theres no easy fix, Dantonio said.The Spartans made a change at quarterback for this game, starting redshirt freshman Brian Lewerke instead of Tyler OConnor, but Michigan States problems extend well beyond one position.The Spartans went back to OConnor in the third quarter, and he threw for 281 yards and three touchdowns, but Michigan State couldnt stop Northwestern (3-3, 2-1) with any consistency.Solomon Vault returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter to put the Wildcats up 40-31, and the Spartans never made it closer after that.Michigan State is off to its worst start after six games since 1994, when the Spartans were 2-4 and later forfeited away the wins.TAKEAWAYSNorthwestern: The Wildcats have to be encouraged by the ease with which they shrugged off an early deficit Saturday, and although the secondary was beaten for a couple long touchdowns in the second half, Northwestern will win its share of games if it can keep creating big holes for Jackson.It was a good one today, but I think were just showing what we can do, Thorson said. Passing the ball, running the ball, everything.Michigan State: Dantonio shook things up by starting Lewerke at quarterback, then watched his defense give up so many yards and points it didnt really matter who was throwing passes for Michigan State. The Spartans were a mess on defense and still dont block well enough on offense to put together many sustained drives.Its almost like everybodys at a loss for words, OConnor said. We feel like weve been saying everything that we think we need to fix and working as hard as we can to fix it, and everybody understands that we need to get better.OConnor did do his best to reclaim the quarterback spot with his work late in the game.NEW FACELewerke had attempted only four passes this season before becoming the first Michigan State freshman to start at quarterback since Stephen Reaves in 2004. Lewerke opened the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Josiah Price in the first quarter, but the offense bogged down again in the second.Dantonio was noncommittal about his quarterback situation afterward.I thought both guys obviously did some good things, and both guys obviously did some things theyd like to have back, Dantonio said. So well look at it and evaluate it.TOUGH STARTMichigan State took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter when Justin Layne scored on a 43-yard interception return. That was the last touchdown the Spartans scored for a while.We knew that they were going to try and knock us out early. Their backs are against the wall, Fitzgerald said. We basically got what we expected, and it was disappointing with our start, but I really loved the way our guys responded. We didnt flinch.UP NEXTNorthwestern: The Wildcats host Indiana next weekend.Michigan State: The Spartans play at Maryland on Saturday night. If you dont count games forfeited from 1994, the last time Michigan State lost five games in a row within one season was when the Spartans dropped their first five in 1991.---Follow Noah Trister at www.Twitter.com/noahtristerHakeem Butler Cardinals Jersey . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Hakeem Butler Womens Jersey . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/byron-murphy-cardinals-jersey-en/ . -- Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Farmar will be out for roughly four weeks after tearing his left hamstring. Adrian Wilson Cardinals Jersey . Vettel, who has already clinched his fourth straight F1 title, enters the finale with a chance to equal Michael Schumachers 13 victories in a year and match the record of nine consecutive wins by Alberto Ascari in the 1952 and 1953 seasons. Pat Tillman Youth Jersey . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. The Indiana Fever have a chance to close out the first half of the regular season with wins over the first-place teams in the Western and Eastern Conferences when they face the New York Liberty on Thursday in New York.Tamika Catchings had a vintage performance in the Fevers big win over the Los Angeles Sparks, who are in first place in the Western Conference and own the best record in the WNBA. Catchings scored 23 points in the Fevers 92-82 win over the Sparks on Tuesday.We really buckled down, Catchings told reporters after the win. Defensively, that is where it starts for us. When we play really good on the defensive end, we finish it off with a rebound and were able to get out in transition, we look like a great team. The Fever (11-12) have won four of five games, but have their hands full with the first-place Liberty. New York got 69 points from its bench in an 88-80 win over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday. The 69 points off the bench were a WNBA recordThe Liberty (18-7) have won six of seven and have beaten Indiana twice this season.dddddddddddd Star forward Tina Charles, who is having an MVP-caliber season for the Liberty, had 26 points and 15 rebounds in a 78-75 overtime win against the Fever on June 19. New York also blew out the Fever 91-59 on June 3.Indiana believes it has improved since those losses.When we play like this, Catchings said after the win over Los Angeles, there are very few teams that can beat us when were playing at our best. Charles is second in the WNBA in scoring (21.2 points) and rebounding (9.5 rebounds). Sugar Rodgers is second on the Liberty in scoring, averaging 15.3 points per game.Catchings, who has announced that this will be her last season in the WNBA, leads the Fever in scoring, at 13.9 points per game. Tiffany Mitchell is averaging 10.7 points per game.The two Eastern Conference rivals met in the playoffs last season, with Indiana winning the series 2-1. ' ' '