Week 13: Notre Dame at Stanford

The last time the Fighting Irish were in California, the sun was shining, Charlie Weis was smiling and they were winning for the first time, upsetting UCLA 20-6 after a dreadful 0-5 start. Four more losses and a win over Duke later, Notre Dame is back on the West Coast, visiting Stanford this time and trying to finish a dreadful season on an upbeat note.

Forced to rely more on eager freshmen and sophomores than upperclassmen, and paying for it at levels that have shocked even the most casual football fan, the Irish already are guaranteed their worst season in the past 44, since going 2-7 in Hugh Devore’s lone season in charge in 1963. Ara Parseghian replaced Devore as coach and righted the program.

To find the last three-win season in South Bend, you have to go back to 1933, when Hunk Anderson’s final team finished 3-5-1. Elmer Layden stepped in for Anderson and righted the program.

Weis isn’t going anywhere, even with a school-record nine losses, because he’s signed to a huge contract extension. He’ll settle for making progress with the youngsters and hoping they grow up quick, utilizing 11 freshmen and sophomores among his 22 starters, and 24 among his top 44.

The first-year players include quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who has completed 119 of 213 passes for 1,058 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s been paying more dues than making things happen. The Irish rank last among Division 1 teams in total offense, collecting 235.8 yards per game. It’s been trying on Weis.

“I’ve had to tweak some things when the lows of the lows have occurred to try to make sure you’ve kept everyone out of the tank and kept everyone going,” the coach said. “Really the theme is moving the program forward. I think that we made one small step (against Duke). The last thing I want to do is go to Stanford and all of a sudden lay an egg.”

A win over the Cardinal, and Weis receives a small consolation in all of his rebuilding misery – a mini-series triumph over the Pac-10, having beaten UCLA 20-6 and lost to USC 38-0.

Stanford has bogged down after upsetting USC 24-23 and edging Arizona 21-20 and hoisting up a 3-4 record at one point, thinking it easily would become bowl eligible. Bad losses to imminently beatable Washington and Washington State, which share last place with the Cardinal, and a worse defeat to a more competitive Oregon State team have dulled the enthusiasm and momentum new coach Jim Harbaugh had worked hard to instill.

The Cardinal will attempt to regroup behind sophomore quarterback Tavita Pritchard, who comes off career highs of 22 completions in 40 attempts for 236 yards against Washington State, and senior wide receiver Mark Bradford, who has 157 career catches for 2,236 yards, including a team-leading 39 for 447 this season. Defensively, junior linebacker Pat Maynor leads all Pac-10 linebackers with 13 tackles for loss, including five sacks.

Finding a running game has been a huge problem, with the Cardinal going through five running backs because of injuries. The defensive line has lost its push. Harbaugh seems worn out.

Patience will settle this one, with Notre Dame attempting to finish up with a third victory, which would be seven fewer than last season, and Stanford eyeballing a fourth win, which is three more than 2006. The Irish, who lead the series 15-6 and have won the last five meetings, will win this battle of futility.

Notre Dame by 14