It's only Week 2 in college football, but it's already likely do-or-die for Notre Dame's BCS bowl game hopes. The Irish, coming off a shocking and historic home 33-3 loss to Georgia Tech, are in the midst of a an incredibly difficult schedule: Saturday evening at No. 14 Penn State, then at Michigan, vs. Michigan State, at No. 13 UCLA, vs. Boston College, and at top-ranked USC.
Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis is turning to freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen, the third-string QB against Georgia Tech, this week to get the Irish offense kick-started. That unit was awful against the Yellow Jackets.
"If I didn't think (Clausen) was ready, I wouldn't do this," Weis said. "He was always ready mentally. It's just that his arm wasn't a full-go until the end of last week. He had been getting reps all along. We just had been keeping him from overexerting himself."
This will be the earliest season in the modern era that Notre Dame has started as freshman QB. Clausen was 4-for-6 for 34 yards in last week's loss, and Notre Dame rushed for an minus-8 yards.
The Nittany Lions are coming off a 59-0 cakewalk over Florida International, and many players have been looking forward to this game since last season, when the Irish beat PSU 41-17 in the schools' first meeting since 1992.
"It's embarrassing, we played terrible against them last year," Penn State star linebacker Dan Conner said. "Since the beginning of the season, the Notre Dame game is something we have been looking forward to."
Penn State's defense would appear to have the edge in this game, as Notre Dame only managed 122 yards against the Yellow Jackets - and that was at home.
"There's a whole litany of problems right there that we have to fix," said Weis, whose team will try to avoid losing four consecutive games for the first time since it fell to Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1, 2001.
Penn State is -17.5 on WagerWeb.com, but look for Notre Dame to put up a spirited effort and cover the spread after undoubtedly a rigorous week of practice.
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