Lehighton Area High School graduate Dave Warner has been involved in football for over 40 years, but Thursday night he's facing "absolutely the biggest game" in his career.

Warner is co-offensive coordinator at Michigan State University. The Spartans will be opposed by Alabama, a 10-point favorite, in the semifinals of the NCAA national championship.But Warner is used to challenges.Just two months ago, on Nov. 21, his Spartans faced improbably odds against Ohio State.He didn't panic even though his starting quarterback wasn't playing against the defending national champions and No. 3 ranked team in the country. It didn't matter that his team was a 13-point underdog.The quarterback, Connor Cook, regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, suffered an injury the week before. There were no other tested signal callers on the team. Yet, Warner engineered a major upset win.Warner relied on his second-, and then third-string, quarterbacks to pull out a stunning last-second win over the Buckeyes.Those backup quarterbacks were players that Warner had personally recruited."It was probably unexpected by a lot of people when they saw Connor wasn't going to play," said Warner of the win.Even if Cook had played, MSU likely would have been the underdog in the game.This is Michigan State's second year playing in the Cotton Bowl. Last year it overcame a 20-point, second-half deficit to defeat Baylor 42-41.The difference this year is that the game is the semifinals of a four-team national championship playoff. The winner will play whoever emerges victorious in a clash between Clemson and Oklahoma at 4 p.m. on Thursday in the Orange Bowl. The Michigan State game is at 8 p.m.Warner grew up in Lehighton, first playing in the knee-hi program as quarterback for Oklahoma and then Lehighton high school. He played a season of JV ball as a freshman, but head varsity coach Andy Silock saw his potential and moved him to the varsity squad in his sophomore year.He received a full scholarship to Syracuse University where he was the starting quarterback.In the knee-hi program, one of his coaches was his father, Glenn Warner, who was an assistant to head coach Marvin Barry. Barry's son, Craig, also played Division I football. He was a starter for the Air Force Academy before his untimely death in a car accident.Glenn, who turned 90 in July, still lives in Lehighton."I didn't coach him too much. I just let him go," Glenn said of Dave, adding that football seemed to come naturally for him.Glenn recalls that Dave's favorite receiver was Larry Mertz, a running back and linebacker who played for Kutztown and is a member of KU's Sports Hall of Fame.In high school, Dave played against future pro all-stars Matt Millen and Keith Dorney. Dave lettered in three sports in high school - football, basketball and baseball.After graduating college, Dave remained at Syracuse as a graduate assistant. He then served as quarterback coach, passing game coordinator, offensive coordinator or running backs coach at Kent State, Bucknell, Wyoming, Connecticut, Houston, SMU and Cincinnati before finally being asked by Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio in 2007 to join him in East Lansing.Since Warner was named co-offensive coordinator, along with Jim Bolliman, MSU has amassed a 36-4 record and won two Big Ten championships."We've been pretty successful the last few years," Warner said.He recalls the last time Michigan State played Alabama. It was in 2010 in the Capital One Bowl. The Spartans were ranked seventh in the country. Alabama was ranked 13th. The Crimson Tide won 49-7."They're a very talented team," Warner said. "They always are. In 2010, they took it to us pretty good. But I believe we have a lot more talent this year. I hope we can match up offensively and defensively. Connor will be the starter."The opportunity is something not everybody has a chance of getting. We've been to good bowls the last couple of year."He declined to give an opinion on the present NCAA setup for crowning a national champion."I think it's good but it's got to be tweaked," Warner said.There has been talk about making it an eight-team playoff, but it's nothing for which he has a say.The only loss this year for the Spartans was to Nebraska early in the season. Warner admits it might have been a wake-up call for the team."It shouldn't have come down to the end of the game like it did," Warner said.Warner met Dantonio when they both coached in Kansas. Although they left Kansas for different schools, Dantonio never forgot Warner's coaching ability. That's why he called Warner when Dantonio became the head coach for Michigan State.All through the season, Warner has gotten recognition from sportscasters on nationally televised games. An ESPN commentator called Warner the best offensive coordinator in college football."Of the recognition, all that is good," Warner said. "But it's our whole offensive staff. We're team oriented. It's not just me. We've all been together for a few years now."Although this is Cook's last year at MSU, Warner looks forward to the challenge of finding a replacement, just like he did when Jeremy Lanford left for the Chicago Bears after last season. He had rushed for a combined 40 touchdowns in 2013 and 2014.Warner groomed a trio of backs in sophomore Gerald Holmes (534 yards), redshirt freshman Madre London (489 yards) and freshman LJ Scott (691 yards) to successfully fill the void."We've got guys we have confidence in who did a great job in the Ohio State game," Warner said. "I think we still have a lot of talent. I feel very good about the situation, although we'll obviously miss Connor."Asked if he would rather face Clemson or Oklahoma after Thursday night's game, Warner refused to choose. For now he'll remained focused on the Tide."I don't have a preference," he said. "I'll be glad to face either team if we get into the championship final."A FUTURE STAR ... Warner has two children, a son and a daughter. The son, Jackson, age 10, plays football and basketball. Glenn said that Jackson plays on three different basketball teams and like Dave, is a natural in sports.READY FOR RECRUITING ... After the bowl games, Dave will immediately focus on recruiting. His main recruiting areas are Atlanta, Georgia, and the Ohio area. He also looks at potential recruits in Pennsylvania.CLOSE GAMES ... Of Michigan State's 11 wins this season, seven were by four or fewer points. The only loss to Nebraska was by one point. Of Alabama's 12 wins, only one was by less than two touchdowns. The Tide defeated Tennessee by five points. Alabama has played seven ranked teams, three of them in the top 10. Michigan State played four ranked teams, three of them in the top 10.FORMER ASSISTANT VS. THE COACH ... Michigan State Coach Mark Dantonio had served as an assistant to Nick Saban, the present Alabama coach. when Saban served as the MSU head coach in 2000. Dantonio left to serve as an assistant coach at Ohio State, then at Cincinnati before taking the head coach job at Michigan State.NO DESIRE TO COACH PROS ... Warner said he has no interest in elevating to coaching in the NFL. He said he would consider a head coaching job in college if the right opportunity came.