EAST LANSING, MICH. ? Notre Dame doesn’t prefer winning in such dramatic fashion. It’s just working out that way.

Quarterback Pat Dillingham, playing for injured starter Carlyle Holiday, threw a short pass to Arnaz Battle, who ran 60 yards for a touchdown with 1:15 remaining as the 12th-ranked Fighting Irish rallied to beat Michigan State 21-17 Saturday.

Notre Dame receiver Arnaz Battle, top, celebrates his touchdown against Michigan State. Battle scored with 1:15 remaining as the No. 12 Fighting Irish came from behind to defeat the Spartans, 21-17, Saturday at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.

“If we win every game like this, I know it creates a little more heartache for a lot of people, but I’ll take 13 like that,” Notre Dame coach Tyrone Willingham said.

The Irish began the fourth quarter with a 14-3 lead, then trailed 17-14 with 1:45 left. The Spartans went ahead when Charles Rogers caught his second TD by leaping in the back of the end zone with two defenders on him and stabbing his left foot down for a spectacular 21-yard score.

Making the catch even more impressive, Rogers made it with bruised ribs; X-rays were taken, but they showed no fractures.

Notre Dame (4-0) is off to its best start since 1993, the last time it seriously challenged for the national championship.

“The difference is, we used to lose games like this,” Battle said. “Now we’re finding a way to win games like this.”

In beating the Spartans (2-2) for the first time since 1994, the Irish gave Willingham a sweet victory against his alma mater.

“Michigan State is a huge part of me, but I’m the coach of Notre Dame,” Willingham said. “That doesn’t mean I don’t have feelings for Michigan State. I just didn’t for 60 minutes.”

Michigan State had beaten the Irish the past five years and appeared to be headed for a sixth straight victory after Rogers scored his second TD, which came on a fourth-and-11 play and capped a 97-yard drive.

On the ensuing possession, Dillingham threw a short crossing pass to Battle. As defenders were running into each other, Battle raced to the sideline for the deciding score.

“My heart was just broke,” Michigan State safety Thomas Wright said.

The last three times Michigan State had beaten the Irish, the Spartans needed fourth-quarter TD passes to win.

“It was a nice to do the same thing against them,” Battle said.

Michigan State got the ball back with 1:09 left, but its comeback hopes ended when quarterback Jeff Smoker scrambled and threw a 43-yard pass that was intercepted by Gerome Sapp at the Notre Dame 3. It was Sapp’s second interception of the game.

“We wanted to take this (team) back to how it used to be and how it should be,” Sapp said. “This is a no-excuse program now. In the past, we made excuses.”

Rogers had seven catches for 175 yards, and he tied an NCAA record by catching a touchdown pass in his 12th straight regular-season game. The mark is shared by Marshall’s Randy Moss, Michigan’s Desmond Howard and Pacific’s Aaron Turner. Including last year’s Silicon Valley Bowl, Rogers has caught TD passes in 13 consecutive games, tying the Big Ten mark set by Howard. NCAA records do not count postseason games.

Rogers’ first TD catch from Smoker, from 38 yards out early in the fourth quarter, got Michigan State to 14-10.

“He truly showcased himself as a great player,” Willingham said of Rogers. “He is fantastic.”