SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis won’t stay on the West Coast to recruit as planned after the Fighting Irish play at Stanford.
Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday on WLS Radio 890 in Chicago that Weis will fly back with the team.
“He’s going to return from Stanford back to campus,” Swarbrick said.
On Sunday, Weis said he planned to stay on the West Coast recruiting, just as he had last year when he and Swarbrick met to discuss his future after the regular-season finale at USC.
Two days after saying he couldn’t argue if Notre Dame officials decided to fire him with a 6-5 record, Weis set the tone at his weekly news conference with his opening comment: “I have a news flash. We have a football game this Saturday evening against Stanford, so let’s see if we can’t talk about that.”
Weis likely will head into the regular-season finale without tailback Armando Allen Jr. Allen, who leads the Irish with 733 yards rushing, cracked a bone in his right hand in the second half against UConn on Saturday.
Tight end Kyle Rudolph, who missed the past two games with a muscle injury in his left shoulder, has been cleared to practice and will try to play against Stanford.
Meanwhile, quarterback Jimmy Clausen was sporting a black eye behind the tinted visor he wore to practice.
Swarbrick said Clausen was the “victim of a sucker punch” while at a bar Sunday morning.
“He just got cold-cocked by somebody,” Swarbrick said, “and we’re very disturbed by that.”
Carl Pelini downplays Youngstown State talk
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska defensive coordinator Carl Pelini isn’t saying whether he is or isn’t interested in the vacant head coaching job at Youngstown State in Ohio.
Asked about the job after practice, Pelini said: “I’m not even thinking about that right now. I’m thinking of Colorado.”
Pelini, 44, is the older brother of Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini. The Pelinis are natives of Youngstown, and Carl earned his undergraduate degree at Youngstown State.
The school is looking for a successor to Jon Heacock.
• Nebraska cornerback Alfonzo Dennard has recovered from a toe injury and will be able to play Friday against CU.
Footnotes.
A fire Monday night in the luxury suites under construction at Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium caused minor damage and won’t significantly delay the project, which is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2010 football season.
• Michigan State running back Glenn Winston and safety Roderick Jenrette have been dismissed from the team for violating undisclosed team rules. The Associated Press
