On 4th-and-Everything, Notre Dame Comes Through

West Lafayette, Ind. -- What exactly was the down-and-distance? Fourth-and-goal? Fourth-and-game? Fourth-and-.500 record? Fourth and "Fire Charlie?"

"We were just talking about it in the locker room," said Notre Dame senior offensive tackle Sam Young. "Was that fourth down?"

It certainly was. Three yards from paydirt the Irish, trailing 21-17 at Purdue, were also one down away from heartbreak -- and the ever-present vultures -- again.

"When we broke the huddle, Kyle said, 'Give me the ball'," Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen said. "I said, 'You better catch it'."

Clausen took the shotgun snap and Rudolph, lined up in the right slot, ran his "sticks" route. As head coach Charlie Weis explained, "Run two yards deep in the end zone, turn around, and look for the ball."

"I knew as soon as they doubled Golden [Tate]," said Clausen, "that Kyle was going to be open."

Captain Crutch/Clutch fired a strike in to Rudolph's midsection -- he may just have hit the circle in the numeral "9" -- and he gathered it in. Rudolph was tackled on the play, and when he rose up, his face mask pushed up toward his eyes, the precocious 6-foot-6 sophomore roared. He flexed both arms outward like Wolverine (the character, not a Michigan gridder) as teammates raced toward him.

The last to meet Rudolph was Clausen. "I told him that's what all the hard work was for this summer."

Ah, yes, How the Irish spent their summer vacation. Last June, Rudolph and wideouts Golden Tate and Michael Floyd took a little trip to southern California to visit Clausen. The week-long excursion was more than just the impromptu passing camp which Clausen had envisioned.

"It went kind of beyond football," Rudolph said, his head still swimming with the surreal finish. "Last year, we didn't really know Jimmy. Michael and I were freshmen. We were just three individuals who played wide receiver. Out there, we got our timing down and we became a unit."

Gus Dorais and Knute Rockne had Cedar Point. That duo spent the summer of 1913 lifeguarding at the Ohio beach resort -- yes, there are beach resorts in Ohio -- and tossing around the pigskin. This in an era before the forward pass was considered a weapon, that is until the two sprung it on Army the following November.

Clausen, Rudolph, Tate and Floyd's summer getaway may never match that one in terms of lore, but it did plant the seeds for Saturday night's game-winning drive. Both Rudolph and Tate caught two passes on the Irish's 12-play, 72-yard march downfield that turned a 21-17 deficit into a 24-21 victory. Of course, no such drama may have been necessary had Floyd, the team's most dynamic weapon (in the past two decades, mind you), not broken his collarbone last week versus Michigan State.

(Then again, when Rudolph hauled in the game-winning touchdown, Floyd, standing on the sideline, raised both arms skyward. Maybe he is not in that much pain after all).

The Irish won, which perhaps will subdue, at least temporarily, the wolves at the door thirsting for Weis's termination. Notre Dame has now played three consecutive games against Big Ten schools decided in the final minute, and one could argue that, with their talent, at least two of them should not have been close.

On Saturday night, however, in West Lafayette, the Irish offense was without its leading rusher (Armando Allen, ankle sprain) and its leading receiver (Floyd) and for three quarters at least, better off without its quarterback, Clausen. That trio represented 95 percent of Notre Dame's total offense, 75 percent of their rushing yardage, 67 percent of their receptions and 62.5 percent of their touchdowns. When Tate took a direct snap from center and scored thanks to edge-sealing blocks by backup quarterback Dayne Crist and 4th-string tailback Theo Riddick, well... this program has had two major motion-pictures based upon it, but tonight it most closely resembled "The Replacements".

"Brian, can I sit down?" Clausen asked Notre Dame sports information director Brian Hardin as he hobbled into the interview room. His right foot wrapped in ice, Clausen limped toward a chair, his gait belying the fact that he had just turned 22 five days earlier.

Asked about his health, Clausen smiled and said, "One-hundred percent."

Then Clausen, who did not participate in a full practice until Thursday, came clean. "To be honest, I don't know," he said. "When the adrenaline gets going, you don't feel it. But when I wasn't in there (Clausen and Crist split time almost equally), it started getting stiff."

"The intent was for Jimmy not to play in the second half," said Weis. "We were limited with what we could do with him."

And that was a sound plan, especially when the Irish took a 17-7 lead into halftime, thanks largely to an outstanding rushing attack -- Notre Dame ran the ball on 13 consecutive downs in the second quarter over the course of two drives, both which resulted in touchdowns -- and inspired efforts by Tate and halfback Robert Hughes. But then, as has been the case for three straight Saturdays, the Irish effort ebbed and they found themselves trailing in the fourth quarter.

In fact, so badly fooled was the Irish defense on Purdue's go-ahead 38-yard touchdown pass with 2:15 to play that Weis, when asked about the breakdown, replied, "As soon as I saw him catch the ball, I turned the other direction and started thinking about our next offensive series."

There will be those who quibble that it should never have come to this, but do those people watch college football each Saturday? Should Cal have lost by 39 at Oregon? Should Washington, which shocked USC a week ago in Seattle, have lost by 20 at Stanford? Should Miami, everyone's darling this week, have spotted Virginia Tech a 21-0 halftime lead before succumbing 31-7 in Blacksburg, Va.? Notice, all three of those schools, the most highly-praised programs the past seven days lost on the road.

When it was all over, players hugged players. Coaches hugged players. Athletic director Jack Swarbick hugged Clausen. Tate absconded with the leprechaun's cap, doffed it, and turned to his teammates and asked, rhetorically, "Should we sing it?"



After Notre Dame lost in Ann Arbor two weeks ago, an upset band member wrote in to the school newspaper, The Observer, to admonish the Irish for not remaining on the field to sing the Alma Mater. On Saturday night in West Lafayetter, the Notre Dame marching band was nowhere to be seen. And so it was left to Tate to lead his teammates in an a cappella version of the song, and surprisingly, the players knew every verse. Tate's favorite lyric, one can only imagine, being "Golden is thy fame."

You can resume bickering about whether or not the Irish should can their head coach on Monday. For one day at least, let it go. The Irish won their first road game against a Big Ten opponent in six tries, since the stunning prime-time comeback in East Lansing three years earlier. Saturday night's comeback may not have been quite so miraculous, but for a group of players still forging camaraderie, a squad that had never yet pulled off a game-winning drive, it was more than satisfying.

Half an hour after the final gun Young, the lone current starter who was on the field three years ago at Michigan State, was still feeling it. Said Young, "I'm checking my heart right now."