Notre Dame Optimistic About Clausen

Fans of the Fighting Irish will probably have to wait one more day to learn the status of quarterback Jimmy Clausen (country’s 2nd-ranked quarterback) for this Saturday’s game at Purdue (country’s 105th-ranked defense). If Clausen, who injured his right foot in the 2nd quarter of the 33-30 win over Michigan State but managed to stay in the game and limp his way to over 300 yards passing, things could go from bad to very worse for Notre Dame, having already lost Michael Floyd for the year.

For now, Charlie Weis is dodging and deflecting with that charm and humor we’ve come to know and love.

“Dr. Clausen?” Weis responded when prodded about the extent of Irish junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen’s foot injury.

“You’re going on the assumption he’ll be ready to play?” a reporter pressed, spinning forward into Saturday night’s matchup at Purdue.

“I’m under the assumption he’ll try to milk as much (practice) time out of me as he can,” Weis said with a chuckle. “Will he be hobbled some? We’ll have to wait and see how it goes. Jimmy is a tough guy. Unless there’s a serious injury, he’ll do all that he can to play. So we’ll see where we are.”