FanHouse Golden Tate

We've already gone over Jimmy Clausen's potential plans for next year. As for Golden Tate ...

It was only eight weeks ago -- one day after the Nevada game -- that a reporter asked Charlie Weis if Michael Floyd could be the best wideout in Notre Dame history. Weis quickly replied, "I think Golden would argue with you."

At the time it seemed like lip service. Today, it seems prophetic.

When is the last time the Irish had a player with this much swagger as No. 23? Okay, Jeff Samardzija (who, like Tate, also played baseball for the Irish). If Tate remains at Notre Dame for his senior season, he will break every career receiving record that Samardzija set just three years ago.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Observations and opinions on Saturday's USC-Notre Dame clash:

Sure, Notre Dame came close, but imagine how much better quarterback Matt Barkley will be 13 months from now in the Los Angeles Coliseum. By the way, listening to both Pete Carroll and Barkley speaking to the media after the game, it sounds as if the USC head coach has engineered his own Mini-Me.

Here is a portion of what Carroll had to say about Barkley, who after all did toss for 380 yards, is 5-0 as a starter and has won on the road in Columbus, Berkeley and South Bend: "Matt Barkley is really something,'' Carroll said. "The plays he's capable of making, there's no limit for him. He's just remarkable -- there's no other way to describe it. There's no one else to compare him to in our history. He's so poised, so comfortable in the arena. He has this great inner strength."

And you thought Charlie Weis had a man-crush on Jimmy Clausen ...

FanHouse writer John Walters is living in South Bend, Ind., during one of the most pivotal seasons in Notre Dame history. Check back daily for his dispatches on the Irish

Upon entering the Guglielmo Athletic Complex (i.e., "The Gug") on Sunday, one could still feel the entire Notre Dame football program exhaling with relief. Local columnist Al Lesar of the South Bend Tribune reminded Irish head coach Charlie Weis that yesterday Weis had said, "There was a lot of bad stuff in the game, but I'm going to have a tough time feeling bad tonight." Lesar wondered whether, having had a night to digest the tape, if Weis' mind had changed.

"I'm not going to feel bad," Charlie chuckled. "You can't talk me into feeling bad."

Notre Dame wide receiver Golden Tate scored the winning touchdown in Saturday's victory over Michigan State, but what has everyone talking about Tate three days later isn't the score itself, it's the way he celebrated afterward: Tate did a flying leap into the Michigan State band.

Is the 2009 football season BCS or bust for Notre Dame? The Irish aren't saying.

"We are not talking - you don't win games by talking," junior defensive end Kerry Neal said. "Talk is cheap. I think the less said is better."

Amen.

Notre Dame opened preseason practice Saturday and, by all appearances, this is the best team in five years under head coach Charlie Weis. He has experience at just about every position on offense and most on defense. In fact, the team's 18 returning starters are the most at Notre Dame since 2001. The Irish also were ranked No. 23 in Friday's USA Today preseason football coaches' poll, suggesting Notre Dame isn't out of sight, out of mind after its struggles the past two seasons.

There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic in South Bend right now. After all, at this time last year the Fighting Irish were 0-5 and well on there way to the worst season in school history. This season they've already surpassed 2007's win total, and are 4-1 while seeming to get better every week. Jimmy Clausen improves with each game, having two consecutive career games, and wide receivers Michael Floyd and Golden Tate give the Golden Domers the ability to score from anywhere on the field.

If there has been a weakness for this Irish team, though, it's been the kicker. Through five games Irish kicker Brandon Walker has made only one of his seven field goal attempts, and he's seven for twenty dating back to last season. After two more misses on Saturday in Notre Dame's 28-21 win over Stanford, Charlie Weis has seen just about enough of Mr. Walker.

"We definitely have to explore Ryan [Burkhart] kicking field goals,'' Weis said Sunday. ''Because in Brandon's case, it's not obviously a case of being able to kick it high enough or far enough. When you're 1 out of 7 kicking field goals, it just doesn't cut it.

''I've heard worse suggestions than that,'' Weis said when asked if sitting Walker for a game or two was an option. ''I don't know the answer to that at this point. We're going to get after this Monday and Tuesday, and we're going to make a decision on what we're going to do.