'Great Sense of Urgency' at Notre Dame

He's back! After a rather quiet winter that saw Crewcut Charlie Weis bag yet another top-flight recruiting class, the big guy was back on the big stage, addressing the media throng that descended upon South Bend for his state of the Notre Dame address.

There is a "great sense of urgency" in South Bend, Crewcut said. A 3-9 season will do that.

Weis, the wily coach that he is, promised a new level of toughness around South Bend. That toughness will be reflected in each and every practice. The South Bend Tribune summed it up this way: "Running backs will be taken to the ground. Blocks will be carried out to the whistle. Tackling, not two-hand touch, will be the rule."

But Weis' biggest concern is Jimmy Clausen, the hotshot quarterback from California who played like a freshman — a high school freshman — last season.

"I think our biggest issue is that nothing happens to Jimmy," Crewcut said. "That's probably the thing that could ruin our practice the easiest if something would happen to him."

It was also revealed that Weis invited groups of players over to Casa Crewcut for dinner in the offseason. "The man can cook," safety David Bruton said.

Obviously.

Clausen's weight has ballooned from 194 to 212 and Weis said it was lean muscle gain. Michael Rothstein of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette got a good look at Clausen and wrote that "the California kid doesn't look to be much bigger than last season."

Rothstein later writes: "One of Jimmy Clausen's only red jersey counterparts — sophomore walk-on Nick Lezynski of Newton, Pa. — looks awful small for a quarterback. Well, he actually looks like a pee-wee player in his No. 12 Irish jersey. It could be because he's all of 5-foot-8, 157 pounds."

Apparently Lezynski missed dessert at the Weis' household.