Kapron Lewis-Moore News

Notre Dame recruitniks went to bed Friday night with the chill of another decommitment but awoke to the warmth of a new, and intriguing, verbal guarantee.

It came literally in the first few days of Jack Swarbrick moving into the Joyce Center, perhaps before he had even located the coffee maker.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- In his first, semi-formal team meeting, the first thing Brian Kelly did was introduce himself, winking at the fact that any Notre Dame player with a pulse and an Internet connection figured that out.

Brian Kelly is moments away from stepping behind the podium as Notre Dame's football coach.

Gamecock defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson said the passion of in-state rivalries isn't the reason.

There is wholesale uncertainty on the coaching staff. The two best players on the team will contemplate NFL futures over the next couple of weeks.

Notre Dame senior center Eric Olsen won't get to play for the next Irish coach, but he does have a few words of advice for the man who takes the job.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- When he concluded enumerating the reasons for dismissing his football coach Monday and setting the framework for finding a new one, Jack Swarbrick alluded to the Notre Dame legacy of Rockne and Leahy and Parseghian and Holtz, and his excitement about buoying that heritage.

SOUTH BEND a ' As Eric Olsen eased into a cushioned seat inside Notre Damea TMs Guglielmino Athletics Complex Monday evening, someone casually asked how he was doing.

Last Saturday, Notre Dame junior nose tackle Ian Williams made national ripples with the word a oeoutschemeda used in the context of the Irish defensive coaching staff.

Charlie Weis and Jack Swarbrick are brilliant men. For Coach Weis and AD Swarbrick to push a 7-4-1 schedule model, successfully execute an off-site home game in San Antonio, and solidify a New York City game amidst the already hallowed confines of Yankee Stadium is ingenious.

Notre Dame backup quarterback Dayne Crist will undergo surgery on Friday and miss the remainder of the season.

Golden Tate 's up-for-grabs touchdown catch against Washington State had people talking.

Because the football recruiting calendar says that college coaches cannot speak to prospects while off campus, cornerback Toney Hurd could not meet with Notre Dame associate head coach/co-defensive coordinator Corwin Brown on Friday, when Brown was visiting Hurd's school.

Kicker Nick Tausch is one of four Irish players returning to their home state Saturday night when Notre Dame plays in San Antonio.

No. 34 Logwone Mitz is listed as Washington State's new starting running back. That's a bit of a surprise, considering his 2.9 yards per carry average is a step back from the 3.3 YPC of the guy he replaced, No.

They will lug their own goalpost pads 1,303 miles this week to San Antonio, presumably, though, not to have the actual goalposts torn down in a wild celebration over yet another last-minute victory.

With 1-6 Washington State awaiting his Notre Dame football team this week, the phrase "trap game" was quickly mentioned during Charlie Weis' weekly press conference.

Notre Dame has a big-play defense. Sometimes the Fighting Irish make big plays. Often they give them up - too often for a team with hopes of earning a Bowl Championship Series bid.

Notre Dame wins 'Holy War' against longtime nemesis Boston College: AJ Voelpel: The faded gold paint and gray spots on the helmet of Notre Dame's Kapron Lewis- Moore told the story.