What We Learned: Clausen making Heisman noise

Sporting News' Matt Hayes analyzes what Monday's buzz means to college football. The emergence of Clausen If it weren't for the drive of the season by Michigan, Notre Dame would be unbeaten and quarterback Jimmy Clausen would be pushing Tim Tebow on nearly every Heisman watch list. Now we're two weeks away from seeing just how far Clausen and Notre Dame have come this fall. The Irish are off this week and play host to USC—also off this week—on Oct. 17 in a game that will go a long way in determining ND's fortunes. Win, and coach Charlie Weis and Clausen both get the signature victory they've been looking for the last three years. Lose, and suddenly that "cake" schedule everyone has talked about looks much tougher with a home game against Boston College (4-1) and road games against Pitt (4-1) and Stanford (4-1). If USC has a weakness on defense, it's the erratic play of the secondary—a group that was supposed to be the st...