JOHNNY BRASCO

SHORT-SIGHTED

I'd like to go out on a very sturdy limb and predict that ten days from now, you will no longer be burdened with questions about Jeff Samardzija's timing with Brady Quinn. There are some legitimate questions to pose about this season's offense thus far, no doubt. For example:

1. Ten points total in the first quarter through four games? Why the slow start? (To give you some perspective, Notre Dame is averaging 29 points per game, but just 2.5 points per 1st quarter).
2. Why is the running game so painfully simple?

But questions about Quinn's and Samardzija's timing being off, or Samardzija not quite living up to the player he was last season, seem unfair. Shark was an unknown commodity before last season, and here were his numbers through four games:

21 catches, 346 yards, 6 TDs

Now, as a guy that USA Today and ESPN College Gameday has done features one, Shark's numbers are:

23 catches, 273 yards, 4 TDs

But here's something that few people discuss. The combined record of Notre Dame's first four opponents through four games last season (excluding their games with th Irish) was 6-6. The combined record of Notre Dame's first four opponent's this season (excluding their meetings with ND) is 11-1. And that one loss, Penn State's, was to No. 1 Ohio State.

In short, the season is still young and Notre Dame's first four opponents have been much tougher this year than they were last. And while Purdue is 4-0 heading into Saturday's game, it's a soft unbeaten (two MACs, one I-AA, and one Big Ten foe, and all four games played at Ross-Ade Stadium).

Looking ahead: Notre Dame's offensive numbers, and Samardzija's (and Quinn's!) are about to soar higher than the Dow has this week. Two of the Notre Dame's first four opponents (Michigan and Georgia Tech) are currently ranked in the Top 20 nationally in total defense. Meanwhile, the next two foes of the Irish (Purdue and Stanford) are in the Bottom 20 nationally in total defense. The Cardinal is actually last in the nation.

The Irish are about to 'splode on the scoreboard. And when they do writers will discuss about how they suddenly got it together, about how BQQB and Shark finally got their timing down. Nonsense. Look at the opposition. That's the big difference.

A 4TH CULT HERO

BQQB, Shark, and Tomohawk receive so much of the media attention, and it's understandable, but among ND students defensive end Ronald Talley is no less popular. Talley's imposing presence, plus an anecdote that is well-known among students (that can't be repeated here) about his adherence to parietals (dorm curfews), has helped make him a cult figure, as measured by the most reliable standard of popularity here: T-shirts made in your honor.

There are two Talley shirts you'll often find students wearing. One is a variation of the "Tradition" T-shirt, except that Talley's face is on the back above the words "Intimidating Things" (a reference to a Talley quote). The second is a simple yellow shirt bearing the slogan, "Play Like Ronald Talley Today".

YET ANOTHER TWO-SPORT STAR

With his three clutch catches at East Lansing last Saturday, senior tight end John Carlson is beginning to earn some attention. Carlson is in many ways this year's Samardzija. Like Shark in '05, Carlson did not start last year and only had one more career TD catch (1) entering this season than Shark did entering last. Also like Samardzija, Carlson has earned a letter in another sport here. As a freshman Carlson (6'6", 250) earned a letter on the basketball team and appeared in two games.
Carlson (or "Hey-O!") is a pretty impressive dude. He was a McDonald's All-American in hoops in high school and has a 3.65 GPA in history. Last spring his Bookstore Basketball team advanced to the semi-finals, where they lost to Brady Quinn and Chinedum Ndukwe's team ("U Got A Bad Draw"). Carlson, who is playing himself into the NFL draft as a senior a la Maurice Stovall last year, will forego Bookstore next spring. "I'm retired," he says. Wise move.

ADVICE TO ESPN.COM: SHHHHHH!

Espn.com does a lot of things well. Bill Simmons' chatfest yesterday, for example, when one reader wrote, "Sorry i was away for awhile. I had to read Jenn Sterger's Mailbag." However, if espn.com truly knew their audience, they'd never have that ESPN Mobile window that shouts out at you 2 seconds after you log on.
Guys, do you realize how much cubicle shock you're causing? Some Peter Gibbons-like dude is trying to find out the score on last night's USM-UCF game (strictly because he's a fan of the game, it's not as if he had money on it) and he's quietly minding his business in his cubicle. And then all of a sudden TREY WINGO IS SHOUTING AT HIM!

You might as well just have Dave Revsine announcing, "YOUR DRONE IS SLACKING OFF". How many guys have, if not lost their jobs, at least been reprimanded for this so far? How many?

I don't know why I'm giving a "rival" (we're not there yet, but you watch out, Gene Wojchievcicuiski!) web site advice. It must be from all this hanging around nice Notre Dame students.