Jonathan Smith was named as Michigan State’s top target in the school’s coaching search shortly before Friday night’s game against Oregon.

There had been chatter leading up to Oregon State’s regular-season finale about Smith — enough that OSU athletic director Scott Barnes issued a mid-week statement on the matter — but things came to a head Friday evening when The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach reported that MSU could reach a conclusion in its coaching search by the end of the week.

Following a 31-7 loss to Oregon, Smith was directly asked if he has already or plans to interview for the Michigan State position.

“No decisions have been made,” he told reporters. “I asked this to take an approach to lock in on four months. … I’ve taken the same approach. Decision time, all of that, I’ve been locked in for the last four months. We’ll go from there.”

Smith said he addressed the team earlier this week about “rumors” and asked them to stay locked in on the game against Oregon.

Oregon State athletic director Scott Barnes released a statement earlier this week that claimed he was in talks with Smith on a contract extension and an increased assistant coach salary pool. Smith has been linked to the Michigan State vacancy for several weeks.

“Scott and this administration have done a lot of work trying to navigate unprecedented times, and so we’ve met weekly and talked about that approach,” Smith said.