ANN ARBOR >> Michigan celebrated its much-needed win to reach bowl eligibility, but that was short-lived as the Wolverines turned their attention almost immediately to arch-rival Ohio State.

Not that it takes much for them to think about and focus on the Buckeyes. There is signage around the football building dedicated to this game, The Game. The Wolverines never take their minds off their rivals. After all, they see: “What are you doing to beat Ohio State today?” messages daily.

“We talk about it, you see it every day in the facility, what are you doing to beat Ohio State today,” Michigan quarterback Davis Warren said. “We talk about it every week, every Monday coming in like it’s Monday of Ohio State week. And now it’s here. I know this group’s ready. Just excited to see us dig into the work this week and go attack ‘em.”

Michigan has won three straight against Ohio State, which had won eight straight in the series before that, but the programs are in very different places this season. The defending national champion Wolverines under first-year head coach Sherrone Moore are 6-5, 4-4 in the Big Ten, and are coming off a 50-6 win over Northwestern last Saturday to qualify for a bowl game. Ohio State is 10-1, 7-1 after beating No. 5 Indiana 38-15 and is targeting a national championship.

“I feel it, man. I can just feel it. There’s been that hurt the last three years,” Ohio State quarterback Will Howard said after the Indiana win, according to Cleveland.com. “This rivalry game was the first thing that I heard when I came here on my visit (before transferring from Kansas State) — beat the team up north. It’s the first goal we have every single year.

“I’ve seen it from a distance, and I feel it and I’m a part of it now. I want this for me, too, but I want this for those guys. I want it for Coach (Ryan) Day to shut up the haters. Be able to go out there and say this is the Ohio State Buckeyes.”

Michigan had lost four of five before beating Northwestern and played its most complete game. A second-half surge from the run game and five rushing touchdowns helped lead the Wolverines to their highest point total of the season. They scored 30 in the season-opening win against Fresno State, but struggled to muster points until facing the Wildcats.

The defense had a season-high six sacks, two interceptions and a safety. Michigan players feel like they have momentum heading into the Ohio State game.

“It feels like it’s pretty obvious,” said edge Josaiah Stewart, who had two sacks and leads the team with 8.5, which ranks No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 10 nationally. “The offense is rolling, the defense is rolling. We just got to keep going and continue to punch them in the mouth next week.”

Moore helped lead Michigan to a win over Ohio State last season as acting head coach while former coach Jim Harbaugh served the last of a three-game suspension by the Big Ten.

That was a different Michigan team, though. It would finish the three-year stretch 40-3 with three-straight wins over OSU, three-straight Big Ten titles and CFP appearances and a national title. Still, he knows beating the Buckeyes is always the goal.

“It’s everything,” Moore said. “Our building, it’s all over the place. We think about it 365, so it’s the most important thing to us.”

Defensive line coach Lou Esposito said as soon as he arrived in Ann Arbor in March, he was indoctrinated in the rivalry.

“I went to a spring practice, hadn’t met a coach or a player yet, we get off the field, I walk in the building, and I’ll never forget it,” Esposito said last week. “I walk through, and I’m like, yo, I don’t even know where the team room is. I walked in the team room, and you saw it. That night I talked with Sherrone, and he’s like, hey, make sure you’re watching Ohio State. And I was like, what, it’s spring. He’s like, it’s The Game, it’s the big game. It’s huge. It’s The Game.”

Stewart said all he wants is to beat Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 20½-point favorites, but he said that doesn’t matter because it’s a rivalry game.

“I’m not overstressing or having dreams or nightmares about them,” Stewart said when asked if he thinks about OSU all the time. “They’re always deep in the back of your thoughts. They’re the last game of the season. They’re in my mind, but they’re not up front. They’re deep back there, but they’re here now, so they’re right there right in my mind.”

While most likely don’t think Michigan has a chance to win on Saturday at Ohio Stadium, Stewart was asked if he expects to win. He seemed offended by the question.

“You serious?” he said, before answering. “Yeah”.