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Clausen sweating the Notre Dame details

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Now come the tweaks and torques and barely perceptible steps forward for Jimmy Clausen, the subtle movements that can drive Notre Dame's success even as they go more or less unnoticed. "My knowledge of the offense has gone way up," Clausen said. "Now we're just working on little details." As the Irish approach the final week of spring practice, the junior-to-be quarterback, as one might expect, reports that sweating the small stuff has proceeded swimmingly. The central focus was improving his pocket presence and limiting the times when he bails out to run for his life -- a process Clausen says has "gone well." "Just concentrating," Clausen said. "Just trying to step up as much as I can in the pocket, little slides back and forth, right and left. Just try to keep my eyes downfield and make plays." There was never really much doubt that Clausen would be challenged by sophomore-to-be Dayne Crist for the starting spot. That especially figures now after a piece by ESPN's Ivan Maisel reported that Crist had trouble running the offense in live scrimmaging earlier this spring, suggesting he's a bit too far behind to unseat the incumbent right now.

Chicago Tribune

Jimmy Clausen, Getty Images Jimmy Clausen, Getty Images
April 11, 2009  08:59 AM ET

Doesn't matter....your coach needs to go before you will return to the winning ways. unless you count wins over Duke and Navy as quality

April 11, 2009  09:18 AM ET

The problem is the coaching not the players. And if they can beat Navy then they can count it as a win!

April 11, 2009  09:21 AM ET

Y'all could probably sell the dude to a rendering plant for enough to buy out his contract.

April 11, 2009  09:22 AM ET

The Heisman is in the bag...!

April 11, 2009  09:30 AM ET
QUOTE(#1):

Doesn't matter....your coach needs to go before you will return to the winning ways. unless you count wins over Duke and Navy as quality

With all due disrespect to Jabba the Weis, ND really should end up with 2, maybe 3 more wins than last season. There seems to be some improvement in their overall talent level, they have a ridiculously easy schedule, so there should be limits to how badly Jabba can get them to under-perform. Hopefully (for ND) I'm not underestimating Weis' ****-up ability.

April 11, 2009  09:32 AM ET
QUOTE(#5):

With all due disrespect to Jabba the Weis, ND really should end up with 2, maybe 3 more wins than last season. There seems to be some improvement in their overall talent level, they have a ridiculously easy schedule, so there should be limits to how badly Jabba can get them to under-perform. Hopefully (for ND) I'm not underestimating Weis' ****-up ability.

I think your comments are "spot on" JRM74.

April 11, 2009  09:34 AM ET

And Duke may be tougher next year. I've heard that someone told their RBs that they won't get called for traveling if they don't dribble the football. And I think their LBs may have been told that they won't get called for a flagrant foul if they tackle someone. So don't take that game completely for granted.

April 11, 2009  10:18 AM ET

I hope ND loses every game.

April 11, 2009  10:28 AM ET
QUOTE(#8):

I hope ND loses every game.

How boring life would be without the Notre Dame haters...!

April 11, 2009  10:38 AM ET
QUOTE(#8):

I hope ND loses every game.

Easy, children. Let's keep things civil. Perhaps we could just bash on Jabba the Weis and T-Rex Mangino. Maybe in a hypothetical eating contest? Not on the football field - both coaches in the same stadium at the same time would lower its elevation. And if they both got excited and jumped at the same time, we would have a significant, possibly deadly, seismic disturbance.

April 11, 2009  10:48 AM ET
QUOTE(#8):

I hope ND loses every game.

Whats a jayhawk? Oh, yeah...that's the team whose coach makes Weiss look svelte. That guy will pop before the end of the season. Oh, yeah and before you start in...one decent season does not make Kansas anything.

April 11, 2009  10:54 AM ET
QUOTE(#11):

Whats a jayhawk? Oh, yeah...that's the team whose coach makes Weiss look svelte. That guy will pop before the end of the season. Oh, yeah and before you start in...one decent season does not make Kansas anything.

A Jayhawk is at least a real bird. Kinda like Irish are real people. And every coed knows what a Trojan is, though some prefer other brands. But what the **** is a buckeye? Or a hokie? Anybody know?

And are you just going to concede the eating contest to T-Rex without even putting in a plug for Jabba? What kind of partisan are you?

April 11, 2009  10:57 AM ET

first ten comments being ND haters is pretty telling. don't you guys have anything better to do. Losers.

April 11, 2009  11:38 AM ET

Buckeyes make awesome shot for slings. They fly like a knuckleball out of a wrist rocket, but when they hit, the targets are going to feel it. Truth.

April 11, 2009  11:40 AM ET
QUOTE(#13):

first ten comments being ND haters is pretty telling. don't you guys have anything better to do. Losers.

Technically, I think Kansas lost fewer games than ND last season, so you will need to clarify the definition of "losers". And we might try limiting the personal insults, keeping the trash talk more good natured. You could point out that the landfills in South Bend have twice as much biodegradable refuse as the ones in Lawrence, or that Jabba the Weis' dung piles generate far more methane than do those of T-Rex Mangino.

............ C'mon, guys. Lighten the **** up.

April 11, 2009  11:41 AM ET

I appreciate what Mangino is doing for the program. That said, I encourage Jayhawks to avoid documentaries about mole rats.

April 11, 2009  11:41 AM ET
QUOTE(#8):

I hope ND loses every game.

ya well nobody really cares what u hope. this Irish team is getting better and it showed last season. no BCS this year, but soon u will see ND in the rankings and feble minds like u will find some excuse to bash them

April 11, 2009  11:42 AM ET

As a neutral party, I'd like to attend a Kansas - Missou game. Oh, yeah.

April 11, 2009  11:44 AM ET
QUOTE(#15):

You could point out that the landfills in South Bend have twice as much biodegradable refuse as the ones in Lawrence

Now that's the way to throw down the gauntlet! If you are going to talk trash, talk TRASH!

 
April 11, 2009  11:45 AM ET
QUOTE(#17):

ya well nobody really cares what u hope. this Irish team is getting better and it showed last season. no BCS this year, but soon u will see ND in the rankings and feble minds like u will find some excuse to bash them

Are you texting this in from your phone, or are you actually less proficient with a keyboard than I am? Your loyalties indicate you aren't from Texas A&M, but that might have been my 1st guess.

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