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Where the Michigan State football QB race stands a couple weeks before kickoff

Jay Johnson knows how good a backup quarterback can be.

At Northern Iowa from 1990-92, Johnson was a record-setting QB who earned all-league honors and won the Gateway Conference three times while guiding the Panthers to the Division I-AA playoffs.

The guy behind him who took over when he graduated? Kurt Warner.

“He's worth millions,” Johnson said with a laugh Friday during a video call, “and I'm a great trivia question.”

As Warner started his Hall of Fame career in the NFL nearly 30 years ago, Johnson began building his resume running offenses as a coach.