A team will only go as far as its leader can take it.

For Notre Dame, Jimmy Clausen has to be that leader. He has to bear the burden of expectation and the intense heat of scrutiny as he prepares to captain the Fighting Irish through their most crucial season of the Charlie Weis era.

Clausen, by now, should be familiar with pressure. He arrived at his press conference in South Bend to announce his signing in a limo. He held the event not at the University, but at the College Football Hall of Fame, where he declared that he wanted to win four national titles for the Irish.

With his brashness, he drew more than a little fire. Even Notre Dame-friendly Lou Holtz couldn't resist bashing the nation's No. 1 recruit in sayin...

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