Charlie met with the media yesterday for a quick ten-minute pit stop. Here's what he said.

* Regarding the punting situation:

"Oh it was wonderful. It was a thing of beauty. I haven't talked to Brian yet because we punted again today, but if I had to guess, I think he would start the game off with Turk. We punted twice this week, normally we punt one good time a week, but we punted again today. I'll wait until I talk to Brian, but that'd be my guess."

Sarcasm dripped from those first two sentences if you couldn't tell. I broke down just how badly the punting was hurting us in last week's Five Things, but it really is staggering.

* Weis was asked about the players taking over the leadership of the team this week.

"I haven't been there so you'll have to ask them. I know one thing, the attention to detail at practice has been very good. So if that's a residual effect from these guys talking every day, that's a good thing."

The Irish have a bunch of good character guys that probably allowed Weis to let them put their fate in their own hands this week.

* CW was asked about the importance of playing with a lead.

"We've had so many games this year that have been nail biters, I think if you can get to where you are the ones sitting on top and not playing from behind, that would definitely have a positive residual effect. We try to do that every game, believe it or not. But we are going to do even more to try and just start that this week. Flat starts early in these last games of the year with these seniors, you have to keep on trying to do some things to jump start them because emotionally you're already dealing with some circumstances."

Weis went on to talk about how the loss to Syracuse last year was one of his biggest regrets as a coach, because it was gut-wrenching to send those seniors off the field with a loss. I'll spare us all from the quote.

* Charlie was asked, ever so respectfully, if he'll give any thought that Saturday could be his last trip down the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium.

"Nope, not one bit. That would be very selfish for me to do to start off with. It would be very, very, very selfish for me to be thinking about anyone but those fourth and fifth year players. I promise you, as far as I could ever tell, I don't think those thoughts would ever enter my mind. That would be purely selfish."

Say what you want about Weis as a coach, but he's certainly handling this situation with class.

While Senior Day brings emotions not usually seen on the football field, some of the most cherished memories this weekend will come from someone stepping onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium for the first time.

Fifteen-year-old Jacob Krauss has always dreamed of hitting the field inside the hallowed stadium, but his aspirations haven't been to score a clutch fourth quarter touchdown. Jacob has always wished to make his mark at halftime, with the University of Notre Dame Marching Band.

"Notre Dame is America's first marching band and best-known over the past 160 years," Jacob said. "I want to play with the best."

Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Jacob's dream is coming true.

While Jacob battles cystic fibrosis, his love of music has never wavered. Even after his school, Alameda High in Lakewood, Colorado, was forced to cancel its marching band due to a lack of student interest, Jacob continued to play multiple instruments, including the clarinet.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation, Notre Dame's Office of News & Information, and Mike Williams, a Notre Dame alum who lives in Colorado all teamed to help Jacob fulfill his wish to play his clarinet alongside the marching band.

Joined by his mother and grandmother, Jacob was fitted for an official band uniform this morning. The rest of his Friday includes a private tour of Notre Dame stadium, a clarinet lesson with band instructor Alison Thigpen, and joining the band as they play in the final pep rally of the season at the Irish Green.

Game day will bring even more excitement for Jacob, as he'll join the band for a pregame concert outside of Bond Hall. Jacob will be on the field during the band's pregame performance, before joining his new mates in the Marching Band seats down on the field.

"We have a lot of fun activities planned for Jacob to make this a very special Notre Dame experience," said Jennifer Laiber, who is spearheading the weekend events for ND's News & Information department. "His passion for music and desire to play clarinet alongside our marching band has been an inspiration to everyone involved in planning Jacob's wish."

While Saturday's game will be cherished by seniors stepping foot on the field for the last time, this first visit will be a dream come true for Jacob Krauss.

Brian Polian met with the media yesterday and was in a particularly reflective mood. Having watched the video of his interview a dozen or so times, it's very clear that the coaches are well aware that the end may be near.

No comments I've seen up until know have been as telling as these by Polian.

"I love the place, it is incredibly special, however long my time ends up being here -- the assistant coaches, we're vagabonds -- who knows where you end up and at what point. I loved every minute of it. That being said, five years right now feels like ten. This is a different kind of place in terms of the pressure that you're under. When guys at different places don't want to hear anything in the media they just turn off the local media and don't read the paper. At Notre Dame, you can't even pay attention to the national media, sometimes it's even rougher. So you lock yourself in the room, put your iPod on, put your head down and just do your job."

There's no doubt that Polian's iPod must've been playing much of the past two weeks because the whispers have turned into shouting. Yet there isn't a coach that knows the business side of things better than Polian, who has lived a life in football.

Still, for a coach that came to Notre Dame with only a recruiting pedigree, it's amazing to see the man Polian has become. While the punt game has been atrocious this season, Polian has done a solid job coordinating a special teams unit, and has been dynamic on the recruiting trail, becoming one of the true "closers" on staff. Weis spoke candidly about Polian's skills in the living room.

"You can't negate how dynamic he's been in recruiting," Weis said. "He's gone into one of the hot beds of Southern Cal, not only has he drawn players out of there but he's been competitive on all the best. And that's tough to do. He's both hated and respected by all those coaches on the west coast. because he doesn't care. He just goes in there to every school and tries to slug it out with everyone in recruiting.

As these final two games approach, it's amazing that the football program could be at a major crossroads that brings wholesale changes. While the team hasn't achieved as much as many of us thought it could, the staff Weis put together has to be one of the best Notre Dame has put together since the early Lou Holtz years.

While none of the coaches were willing to admit it, it's going to be a bittersweet moment for many of them if this is the last game they ever run out of the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium.

It's tough not to cheer for UConn. After what the school has gone through in the month since Jasper Howard was murdered, the football team has seen games slip from their grasp in every conceivable way possible.

While I've tried to watch as much of the Huskies as possible to get ready for this Saturday's tilt, nobody has seen more UConn football than Russell Blair, a football writer for the school's Daily Campus. He's chronicled the football season first-hand and covered the Jasper Howard tragedy as well. I had a chance to exchange emails with Russell the past few days and asked him a few questions that will give us a better clue of what to expect this weekend when the Huskies play their first ever football game at Notre Dame Stadium.

Hope you enjoy...

Inside the Irish: Talking strictly football, how heartbreaking has this season been? Losing by 2, 2, 3, 4 and 4 points? You're sitting at 4-5 and you could just as easily be in the discussion for the Big East title. What is morale like?

Russell Blair: I don't think that the fans have given up on the team yet but a loss on Saturday could cause many fans to lose faith in the season.  A lot of the local writers picked us to finish 7-5 or 8-4 and that 7-5 mark is a possibility but we need to get wins over the Irish and USF, two tough games, to make that happen.  Furthermore, if we fall to 6-6 and Notre Dame takes the Big East berth in the Gator Bowl we may be fighting for an at-large bid that might not come.  The hardest thing to deal with is that it sometimes seems we find ways to lose games that we should be winning.  The safety in the end zone against UNC, the 81-yard touchdown with under 40 seconds to go against Rutgers, these are the kind of inexcusable plays that have cost us games we had a good chance of winning.  Most people expected UConn to make a bowl this year and if we don't make a bowl I think that would be one of the toughest things for fans and those in the program itself to swallow.


ITI: Let's talk about the tragedy of Jasper Howard. What has it been like to be a student at UConn through all of this? We've seen how the football team has tried to battle through this, but how has the student body reacted?

RB: As terrible a tragedy as the murder of Jasper Howard was I think if anything, it has brought the student body that much closer together.  From the candlelight vigils to the way that the students acted at the first home game following his death against Rutgers I think the students have bonded together over this common tragedy and have done a great job reminding the national media that Jasper wasn't just a football player but a fellow student as well.  It's been a month since the incident and I think most students are well on their way moving on with their lives but it's something that nobody here at UConn is ever going to forget as long as they live.

ITI: Talk a little bit about the quarterback situation. Zach Frazer was the first quarterback recruit of Charlie Weis. He was a promising get by head coach Randy Edsall, but hasn't really lit it up since he got his chance. What's the future of the QB position for UConn?

RB: I think Frazer has shown flashes of excellence but he hasn't really panned out in the end.  He's got a cannon for an arm but he often doesn't make the best choices as shown by his 7 interceptions to just 4 passing touchdowns.  The QB situation for UConn has been shaky all season long, Frazer was the starter coming into the season before his injury and Cody Endres did a fairly good job replacing him and actually earned the starting job for himself.  Even when Frazer was deemed 100 percent healthy, Endres remained the starter.  Now the shoe is on the other foot and Endres is out for the year so Frazer got his job back but maybe not the way he wanted.  I think if Zach has a good performance over these last three games and leads UConn to a bowl victory it will be hard to take away the job from him next season.  However, if his performance continues to be mediocre look for a three-way competition in the spring between Frazer, Endres and redshirt freshman Mike Box.

ITI: It looks like the running attack has gotten going and the Notre Dame defense has done it's best to make everyone look good. Who can we expect to torment the Irish will big plays, either on the ground or in the air?

RB: The Notre Dame rush defense is giving up over 150 yards per game and UConn has a strong tandem of backs in Andre Dixon and Jordan Todman.  Todman actually earned back the top spot on the depth chart this week, partially due to Dixon getting banged up but Todman has also shown promise and a newfound ability to run hard between the tackles and not just around the outside.  Look for Todman to try to exploit the Notre Dame front seven and with UConn's sturdy offensive line I wouldn't be surprised to see him break off another 100-yard rushing game with maybe a 20-plus yard run somewhere in there.  As for the passing game, the Huskies' 10 touchdowns  this season is already double their total from last year but give credit to Marcus Easley for that.  Easley has 5 TDs and has shown the ability to make big plays so he will probably be the guy the Irish have to look for in the passing game.  He has a touchdown in each of his last five games and has racked up 80 yards at least in those five contests and I expect him to find gaps in the Notre Dame secondary.

ITI: Notre Dame's season has swooned, and Charlie Weis is now squarely on the hot seat. Does that take away from the historic nature of this game? We've heard that it's just another football game, but does coming to Notre Dame for the first time mean something?

RB: While Notre Dame is nowhere near the powerhouse they were in the late 1980s and early 1990s, this game still does have some sense of historical implication given that it may be the only time the Huskies ever travel to South Bend.  Though a series was in the works, albeit not a true home and home as UConn's "home" games were at Giants Stadium and Gillete, those plans have been scrapped and it looks like it'll be just a one time deal.  But this won't be the only big time game for UConn, signing home and home series with Tennessee and Michigan has given the Huskies a handful of big time games and while Notre Dame has a large national following this game will likely not be what it might have appeared to be when it was initially planned several years ago.  As for Charlie Weis, the fact that he is fighting for his job and UConn is fighting for their first win since the loss of Howard only adds to the emotion of the day.  I expect both teams to leave it all out on the field and it should be a pretty entertaining football game.

ITI: The Huskies staged a furious rally and nearly caught Cincy. Any thoughts on the Bearcats and the apple of many Irish fan's eye, Brian Kelly?

RB: UConn kept Cincinnati much closer than many people expected, especially at their own place in Nippert Stadium.  I think that Cincinnati is the real deal and if they run the table they should have a shot at the BCS National Championship.  Say what you will about Big East football but I think that Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and even West Virginia to an extent, have proven that there are always going to be a few good sides that come out of what many consider to be the weakest of the BCS conferences.  The fact that there were no Big East teams in the AP Top 25 to begin the season may have made some of the coaches and players play with a little chip on their shoulder but the conference has cemented itself as having teams as good, if not better, than those in the Big 10, Big 12 or SEC.  I think Brian Kelly is a great coach and the excitement he brings to his team is unparalleled.  Cincinnati is trying to keep him around and I know he's not the first choice for the Irish but if Notre Dame comes calling I think he'll have a hard time saying no.  Losing Brian Kelly would be a big blow for the Big East.  Take West Virginia for example, losing Rich Rodriguez has hurt them over the past few seasons.

ITI: Prognosis for Saturday's game?

RB: This is a tough one, earlier this season when both teams had higher expectations for the season I would have said Notre Dame would win big.  I still think Notre Dame is going to win, but I think it'll be a closer game.  Losing Jasper Howard is going to hurt us in the secondary, especially against the likes of Michael Floyd and Golden Tate.  Blidi Wreh-Wilson is a great kid but he's a redshirt freshman and he's got a lot of work to do to get his game to the level that Howard was playing at.  Not to mention that Clausen has proven himself to be one of the top quarterbacks in the country.  UConn's defense, which has been their anchor the last few seasons, gave up 47 points to Cincinnati and I think Notre Dame shouldn't have trouble finding the endzone.  I really hope the Huskies win, it would be a big time win for the program, but I just don't see it happening. My prediction:  Notre Dame 35, UConn 24 

Special thanks to Russell for the in-depth analysis, and sparing all of us from my attempt at learning the A to Zs of UConn in a week. For more of Russell's writing, check out his column at the Daily Campus.

With this being the last home game, I thought it'd be fun to gather some quotes from some of the guys who will be playing their final home game at Notre Dame Stadium.

But then Ben Ford of the Elkhart Truth did a much better job than I would, so I scrapped the plan. Instead, I present hand links to Ben's "Senior Spotlights," which I got a big kick out of.

Enjoy.

Eric Olsen

Scott Smith

Kyle McCarthy

Paul Duncan

James Aldridge

Nice work, Ben...

Lost in this week of coaching speculation and doomsday ravings is the fact that there's a football game this Saturday. Not just any game, but the final home game of the season and senior day at Notre Dame stadium.

Last season's senior day provided the low water mark of the Charlie Weis era: a loss to woeful Syracuse. This season, the Irish come into their first matchup with UConn leaking serious oil, and it'll be up to the veteran leadership on the football team to put together a complete football game and beat a very able opponent.

As a Notre Dame fan, UConn would scare me silly. They've lost five games by fifteen points: they had an early two-point loss to North Carolina, they blew a 15-point lead against Pitt to fall on a last second field goal, took a 24-21 lead against West Virginia with 3:50 remaining in the game only to lose 28-24, gave up an improbable 81-yard touchdown pass with 22 seconds remaining to lose to Rutgers, and then came within two points of a come from behind victory against BCS darling Cincinnati. Combine that with the tragic loss of cornerback Jasper Howard to an on campus murder, and this team is bound for some good luck.

In many ways, this feels like a chemistry experiment, or at the very least one of those tricky algebra problems that start with, "If team A is sinking at 30 miles-an-hour and team B is sinking at 45-miles and hour." The key for an Irish victory is finding a way to stop the UConn offense, no easy task for an Irish unit that hasn't been able to stop anyone save the opener and Washington State. But probably more important than any on-field element is battling the psychological war that these players have had to put up with these last few weeks.

Since the loss to Navy, you can almost feel the negativity suffocating the team. This isn't an excuse for the inconsistency, merely an observation that the Irish are a team that's clearly pressing. You think Darius Fleming roughs a punter who's pooch kicking if he isn't trying to do too much? You think Eric Maust can't kick 30 yard punts in his sleep?

Even with all the heart break this season, the rallying cry for UConn this Saturday is a much easier sell than the one the Irish are facing. Even if you're to believe that 18- to 22-year-olds don't watch ESPN or read the internet, the team is well aware that the fate of their coach may have already been decided. Already saddled with the emotions of a final home game, a team with close to zero confidence will be playing an opponent that has played every team on their schedule to within four points. Combine that with the Irish's flair for the dramatic, and we've got another must-see Saturday coming.

Notre Dame athletes lead the NCAA in the 2009 NCAA Graduation Success Rate Survey, the NCAA announced yesterday evening.

Nineteen of the 22 Irish teams posted graduation rates of 100 percent and none fell below 93 percent. All 11 women's programs graduated 100 percent of their athletes.

Men's baseball, basketball, cross country/track fencing, golf, lacrosse, soccer, and swimming/diving scored a perfect 100, while the football and hockey programs each scored a 96 and the tennis team earned a 93.

The Notre Dame football team lead all FBS programs along with Duke at 96. The Naval Academy checked in at 93, Northwestern at 92, and Boston College and Vanderbilt followed at 91.

There are only 11 schools where 50 percent or more of their sports teams scored a perfect GSR rating. The Irish led that group convincingly with 19 out of 22 teams. Boston College was second with 22 of 28 teams.

Brian Kelly is the name most aligned with the Notre Dame coaching job if athletic director Jack Swarbrick and the university's administration decide to make a change at head coach. But Kelly has yet to hear from anyone at Notre Dame or through any third parties about the potential job opening.

When talking with Dan Patrick this morning on his radio show, Kelly talked candidly about the school. "Probably just profile," Kelly remarked when asked why he thought his name keeps coming up. "We've won a lot of games, done more with less, and I'm East coast Irish Catholic."

Patrick opened up talking with Kelly about the BCS system and then asked the Cincinatti coach if he was cheering for Connecticut this weekend against Notre Dame. "Absolutely, no question" Kelly said, though it was more in support of fellow Big East coach Randy Edsall and the hardships his team have gone through this year than against the Irish.

Kelly then opened up about coaching at Notre Dame, and compared the job to being a true public figure, akin to being "the Governor." Kelly also stated that there is no escape clause in his contract for certain jobs, and he has yet to even comment on a potential move one way or the other.

"I've always stayed away from that," Kelly said. "Why paint yourself into a corner. Do the best at the job you have. Last I checked, that job wasn't open anyway."

Even though he's flattered by the attention, Kelly presented a fairly convincing case that he is, indeed, happy in Cincinnati. He has a young family, and he has the opportunity to build something that's never been done before with the Bearcats, something you can't say about coaching at Notre Dame.

Zach Frazer will walk onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium Saturday and start at quarterback, fulfilling a dream he had when he became the first high profile recruiting commitment of the Charlie Weis era.

That the dream is coming true isn't a testament to Frazer's patience, but merely a coincidence that Notre Dame is playing Connecticut, where Frazer transferred after his freshman season. UConn will play Notre Dame for the first time in either schools' history.

Frazier came to Notre Dame as the hand-picked quarterback of Weis and then quarterbacks coach David Cutcliffe, the man responsible for grooming the Manning brothers. When asked to look back on Zach's recruitment yesterday, Weis still remembered plenty.

"Zach was interesting. You know, his junior year he was surrounded by a bunch of front line players and a lot of weapons," Weis said. "They were really, really good his junior year. Then they lost a lot of players going into his senior year, and he was kind of a one-man gang. He came here and was a good player for us. We went through a spring where things didn't work out in the depth chart for him, and he decided it would be in his best interest to try to find another opportunity. It was a very cordial way he handled it. I'm glad to see him playing. I just hope he doesn't play very well this week."

Frazier's wayward road was a common theme Charlie Weis' much heralded 2006 recruiting class. Twenty-eight players gave their commitment to Notre Dame, headlined by Sam Young, James Aldridge, Matt Carufel, Demetrius Jones, Konrad Rueland and Frazer. The fact that of those blue-chip recruits only Young has turned into a front-line player shows the difficulties that come with projecting a recruiting class.

Jones, Carufel, Reuland, Richard Jackson, Munir Prince, Luke Schmidt, Bartley Webb, Jashaad Gaines, Will Yeatman, every one of those recruits came to Notre Dame and left without their promise fulfilled. For Schmidt and Webb, injuries derailed them. For Yeatman, a much-publicized fall out with a rigid Student Affairs office got in the way of a promising two-sport career. For others attrition came from transfers for various reasons.

Of the vaunted 28-member class, let's take a look at the contributions they've made, working down from one to twenty-eight.

1) Sam Young: Even if he has yet to become the player many hoped, he started every game he suited up for in his Notre Dame career. I don't think many other offensive tackles can say that.

2) Eric Olsen: Heart and soul of offensive line. Would've been great to let him redshirt.

3) Robby Parris: Turned into the lone offensive weapon out of this recruiting class.

4) Chris Stewart: Transformed his body to be solid contributor on offensive line. Catalyst for recruiting class as high schooler.

5) Darrin Walls: Career hasn't been what many hoped, but still has a year left to fulfill his promise.

6) Sergio Brown: Sometimes you notice him for the wrong reasons (tackling against Pitt), but he's one of the only play-makers on the defense.

7) Dan Wenger: Took one for the team this year while providing depth along the line. Helped start the Aquinas pipeline with Young.

8) Raeshon McNeil: A forgotten man that still ranked 11th in school history in passes broken up heading into this season.

9) John Ryan: Looked lost early in his career, but has become a nice role player at defensive end.

10) James Aldridge: A high school knee injury never let us see the five-star recruit that signed with the Irish. A valuable contributor at fullback/halfback when not injured.

11) Toryan Smith: Notre Dame's best run-stuffing linebacker lost his job with the emergence of Manti Te'o. (Would've been valuable against Navy...)

12) Paddy Mullen: Recruited as a tight end, has become nice presence as goal-line nose tackle.

13) Barry Gallup: Found his niche as special teams ace/kick returner.

14) George West: Never broke through as a offensive threat, but deserves kudos as one of the school's first early enrollees.

15) Leonard Gordon: Hybrid corner/safety that also contributes on special teams.

16) Morrice Richardson: Promising edge rusher that loss reps with the emergence of Kapron Lewis-Moore.

17) Kallen Wade: Ditto.

18) Zach Frazer: Now the starting quarterback at UConn. Can't blame him after coming out third in the 2007 quarterback derby behind Demetrius Jones and Jimmy Clausen.

19) Luke Schmidt: Promising H-back robbed of career from lingering concussion and injury issues.

20) Will Yeatman: Two-sport threat probably won't be donating to university after getting mistreated by Student Affairs. Transferred to Maryland to play football and lacrosse.

21) Bartley Webb: Tackle prospect lost to a career ending shoulder injury.

22) Munir Prince: Running back/cornerback transferred to Missouri after getting passed in depth chart.

23) Richard Jackson: Seldom used receiver transferred to UCF. No longer on the roster.

24) Jashaad Gaines: Seldom used safety now plays linebacker for Texas Southern.

25) Konrad Reuland: Former blue-chip recruit struggled to break through at Notre Dame and transferred to Stanford. Has five catches this season for the Cardinal.

26) Ryan Burkhart: Hometown product still on scholarship, one of four kickers on the Irish roster.

27) Matt Carufel: Promising offensive guard that transferred home to Minnesota after losing his starting job to Eric Olsen.

28) Demetrius Jones: Former team leader walked out on team after losing his starting job after one game in 2007 to Jimmy Clausen. Nearly enrolled at Northern Illinois before heading to Cincinatti, where he now plays linebacker.

It's pretty easy to see why this Fighting Irish squad is still struggling with veteran productivity, because this class was almost a complete punt. Even it's best player failed to live up to his potential, and guys like Robby Parris -- good glue guys -- shouldn't be the top skill contributor of the group.

You can't blame Weis for some of the injuries and attrition that took place, but if you actually go back and look at other top recruiting classes (scroll through USC's one day), you'll see that this kind of thing is pretty normal.

Looking at this class today, there isn't a great defensive player on the list. Walls has the potential to be a good cornerback, but there isn't a starting caliber front-seven player in the group, which is as good of evidence as you'd want to why this defense is struggling.