SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Brady Quinn already has taken a down-and-out football team and turned it around. He figures he can do it again.

That’s why the Notre Dame quarterback believes he is highly qualified to immediately help a troubled NFL franchise — and why he should be the first Fighting Irish player taken with the opening pick in the NFL draft in 35 years.

“I’ve been through the adversity. I’ve gone through losing seasons. I know what it feels like to lose, but I know what it feels like to win,” he said. “I know what it’s like to go through that transition.”

Quinn didn’t say it, but he also knows what it’s like to try to win when not all the pieces are in place. Quinn played on an Irish team that didn’t have overpowering offensive lines and its defense was average at best.

Critics say Quinn couldn’t win big games, but it’s hard to beat Michigan, Southern Cal or LSU when the three scored an average of 44 points against the Irish last season.

“When Peyton Manning came out, people said he couldn’t win the big one, he couldn’t beat Florida,” said Gil Brandt, an analyst for NFL.com, who was vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys from 1960-89. “People say the same thing about Brady Quinn. I disagree with all that. I think if it wasn’t for Brady and his production, Notre Dame never would have been there playing LSU and they wouldn’t have been playing in a game as big as the USC game was.”

So the question facing NFL teams looking to use an early first-round draft pick on a quarterback is: Do you prefer Quinn or LSU’s JaMarcus Russell?

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Quinn was a four-year starter who passed for 11,762 yards and led his team to a 29-18 record, including 19-6 over his final two seasons. Russell was a two-year starter who threw for 6,525 yards and led his team to a 25-4 record.

Many drafts observers believe Quinn is more polished, but Russell might have more potential. Quinn states flatly that he is the better choice.

“JaMarcus obviously is a big kid with a strong arm. But I’m a big kid with a strong arm and much more,” he said. “I’m not as big as him. I’m a little leaner. But I’ve played four years, started the past four years and been through a lot.”

The stakes are high. NFL draft history is littered with failed college quarterbacks, such as Ryan Leaf, Heath Shuler, Todd Marinovich, Rick Mirer, Joey Harrington and others. But Brandt believes Quinn will succeed.

“I think the guy is a polished, mature individual that knows where he’s going and knows how he’s going to get there,” he said.