Anybody else think it is going to be another long season in South Bend.

Of course he will be back as starter. What kind of a title is this???

I think a blurb about PickleBoy's hair could be the most exciting thing for ND football this year.

Well, at least he changed his hair to something normal. Useless story. They could talk about the tackle position with Sam Young beefing up to 330 pounds and Matt Romine being the starter at left tackle. Or Kallen Wade moving to outside linebacker. Or even Clausen putting on 12 pounds this offseason.

And it won't be a long season in South Bend. They will go 7-5 and make it to a bowl game. It won't be great, but it will be a start. The defense is going to be kickass, especially in the secondary, and if the offensive line learns how to block and Haywood knows how to call plays, then Notre Dame could be really good.

Have you looked at Notre Dame's schedule c note? Without any real improvement they could hit five or six wins. San Diego State, Stanford, North Carolina, Washington, Pitt, Navy and Syracuse are all on their schedule, as is Michigan who is coming apart at the seems and appear to be following Notre Dame three year track to a tee. With a modest improvement over last year, the could win six of these eight games. They are still going to stink but their schedule is not nearly as strong as last year.

Like Michigan, ND will most likely struggle this year. I do not think they will have as bad a year as last year as I think a few Freshman will fill in and help out.

And as much as I don't think much of Pickle Boy as a QB, last year he really did hang in there, especially when his O line pretty much was non existent. And that he deserves respect for.

The UM ND game will be quite fun to watch.

Notre Dame's offense won't be great, but they have some budding stars on it. Robert Hughes is becoming a beast. Duval Kamara is going to be the Randy Moss we should have had in the 90s. This offense definitely has the firepower. Now it's time for the offensive line to step up. I'm especially worried about the interior line. Chris Stewart could be a great guard, but Wenger and Olsen are not the answer at center and guard.

One player to watch is Darrin Walls. He's one of the best corners in the country. He's lockdown and never gives up on a play. He also is explosive and one of the fastest player on a team.

The B&G game should tell us a lot about the offense. As long as Ian Williams, Maurice Crum, and Toryan Smith can stop the run, the defense will be top 10 in the country.

Clausen was injured for all of last year, whether it was his elbow or his hip. I think we may have seen a glimpse of what he can do healthy against Air Force, Duke, and Stanford.

QB-Jimmy Clausen
RB-Robert Hughes
WR-Duval Kamara
WR-David Grimes
WR-Michael Floyd
TE-Mike Ragone
OT-Mike Romine
OG-Trevor Robinson
C-Dan Wenger
OG-Chris Stewert
OT-Sam Young

DE-Pat Kuntz
NT-Ian Williams
DE-Justin Brown
OLB-Brian Smith
ILB-Maurice Crum
ILB-Toryan Smith
OLB-Kerry Smith
CB-Darrin Walls
FS-David Bruton
SS-Kyle McCarthy
CB-Terrail Lambert

That's a pretty strong lineup, and the good thing is that only Lambert, Bruton, McCarthy, Crum, Kuntz, Brown, and Grimes will be gone.

My guess is Stanford will not be an easy contest. Jim "Can't keep my mouth shut" Harbaugh will make Stanford matter in football.

Jim Harbaugh should have been the next coach at Michigan. It's too bad he got punished for telling the truth.

Don't forget Crist will give Pickle Boy (I am the originator of that saying right here on fannation - wOOO HOOO!!!) a run for his money. And yes, I do believe Crist is the BETTER QB and looks much better in speedos.

Crist and Clausen are both really good, but Weis will be smart and only play him if Clausen flat out sucks. It would be awesome if Crist got two full years to play after Clausen had 4.

Harbaugh would have never wanted the job had he been offered. His outburst proved as much.

But, don't count out Harbaugh as ND's next coach in a few years! :P

And UM is not falling apart at the seams. That's just silly talk. Though there might be more attrition, there isn't a mass defection.

ND already has its next head coach for whenever Weis leaves/fired/retires. Corwin Brown the defensive coordinator is already the popular choice.

Brown and Brian Kelly would be the 2 favorites if Weis were to be fired after this year.

Jimmy Clausen needs to call Terelle Pryor and let him know about the HUGE difference between being the All-World High School QB, and being the new freshman QB with a target on your back.