Eric Hansen

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - There are days when Jimmy Clausen’s body aches to the point where it might be tempting for the Notre Dame sophomore quarterback to suggest that his understudy run practice for a day.

Instead he presses forward through the pains -- growing and otherwise -- trying to push past the point in his college football career where who he might become still shadows who he is.

And who he is heading into Saturday night’s rivalry renewal between Notre Dame (5-3) and Boston College (5-3) at Chestnut Hill, Mass., is the 41st-best quarterback in the 119-school Football Bowl Subdivision -- in terms of passing efficiency anyway. He is tucked between Arizona State senior Rudy Carpenter -- the national leader as a freshman in 2005 -- and East Carolina senior Patrick Pinkney.

Clausen is 47 spots ahead of his opposite number Saturday, Boston College’s Chris Crane. He has been rated higher than every quarterback he’s faced this season, save North Carolina’s Plan B starter Cameron Sexton (by a mere two and a half ratings points). But he is a world away from the Big 12 guys, who put up cartoon numbers every week, and where he wants to be, thinks he should be.

Clausen has fallen into a sideways trajectory after throwing a pick-six interception on the first play from scrimmage in the second half of an eventual 29-24 Irish unraveling at North Carolina on Oct. 11.

Starting with that miscue, Clausen is 52-of-95 for a completion rate of 54 percent -- well below his season average of 59.5. Also in that time frame, Clausen has thrown for 666 yards and four touchdowns but with three interceptions and six sacks. So half of Clausen’s sacks for the year have occurred in the past 10 quarters.

And two of the defenses Clausen faced in that stretch (Pittsburgh and Washington) are among the 30 worst against the pass in the nation. In fact, Washington is the worst.

The tack Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis had taken with Clausen to this point in his evolution was mostly patience, almost bordering on coddling from the outside looking in. But that all changed on Monday. Weis has never developed a quarterback without an in-your-face phase. And Clausen’s began Monday at 1 p.m.

Weis served as the “bad cop,” going through every play from last Saturday’s 36-33 quadruple-overtime loss to Pittsburgh and injecting a critical flavor even to the so-called “good plays.” It was then quarterbacks coach Ron Powlus’ job to play good cop afterward.

“I think it's important to point out both of them,” Weis said. “It's always better to end with the good stuff rather than start with the good stuff, so that you have a good taste in your mouth.”

Maybe there’s some symmetry in the fact Clausen’s predecessor, Brady Quinn, is stepping into his first NFL start, Thursday night for the Cleveland Browns against the Denver Broncos. Maybe Clausen to is ready to step up against by far the best pass defense the Irish have seen this season (BC is 12th nationally).

Then again, maybe he is destined to play like a sophomore, no matter how gifted his is. After all, Quinn finished his sophomore season No. 55 in passing efficiency before jumping to No. 7 the following year.

Notre Dame’s whole system -- not just offense -- is so quarterback-centric that Weis may not be able to afford the normal learning curve. When Clausen is on, the running game is stronger. When the running game is stronger, the defense is off the field more and the Irish tend to play from ahead, which keeps opposing teams from pounding at ND’s defensive weakness -- its developing defensive front.

The five-wide formation -- four wide receivers, a tight end split out like a wide receiver and no running backs -- seems to being the best out in Clausen, but Weis is hesitant to use it as a staple rather than a changeup for a couple of reasons.

Teams have begun to respond to it by either rushing three men and dropping eight into coverage, thereby creating very small windows to throw through, or by rushing six against five blockers, forcing the quarterback to make quick decisions -- which Clausen certainly can. The down side is the QB tends to get hit after releasing the ball on every play.

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“I'm not really big on getting the quarterback hit on free runs that often,” Weis said.

So variety becomes ND’s identity, a little no-huddle, some power formations, some spread without the running quarterback, but nothing as exotic yet as the Wildcat formation -- the direct snaps to the running back that ND has had to defense upon occasion this season.

“If we wanted to take Jimmy, go put him outside and snap the ball to (running back) Armando (Allen), we could do that,” Weis said. “I kind of like the ball in Jimmy's hands, to tell you the truth.”

Given Clausen’s stage of development and physical health, it’s a fragile formula, but one Weis is convinced is worth the short-term angst.

The training wheels are off. Weis’ expectations and decibel level both have spiked.

It’s time to come of age -- and go beyond.

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