[Bette]

The Fighting Irish are 21 years removed from their last national championship, the longest stretch in school history, and have not been ranked for two full seasons, the longest stretch since the 1962-63 seasons. Fans are beyond impatient.
Some see reason for hope this season, though. The Irish have a veteran team, including nine starters on offense, and a schedule that does seem manageable.
To take a big step forward, Notre Dame needs Clausen to make the kind of improvement his junior year that Brady Quinn did four years ago. As a junior and in his first season playing for Weis, Quinn went from a middle-of-the-pack passer with a 125.9 pass-efficiency rating to the leader of a team that went to consecutive Bowl Championship Series games.
Clausen had a 132.49 rating for a 7-6 team last season.
Clausen is hoping to eliminate the inconsistency problems that plagued him last season. In the seven games Notre Dame won last year, Clausen completed 65.5 percent of his passes and threw 17 touchdowns with seven interceptions. In the six losses, he completed 55.7 percent of his passes and threw eight touchdown passes with 10 interceptions.

Clausen sets sights on BCS bowl for Irish - Notre Dame Central- nbcsports.msnbc.com

[gogolf53]

This team is so average it is pathetic. Barely winning at home against a less than stellar MSU team and losing to a weak Michigan team.

The only thing that is sad is the announcers on NBC that continue to talk ND as a good team. Viewership continues to decline and the product on the field continues to worsen. It is a good thing ND doesn't play in the SEC or Big 12...they would be in the bottom half.