Stud quarterback Gunner Kiel has called yet another audible, this time late in the second half, committing to Notre Dame after making a verbal to LSU in the past month after originally committing to Indiana.

   Kiel is considered by some to be one of the top five quarterback prospects in the nation and is quite a coup. But remember, Jimmy Clausen, Dayne Crist, Ron Powlus and even uncle Blair, from back in the day, were national phenoms.

  But word from back home in Columbus, Ohio is that Gunner's mom didn't want her son to go that far away from home, so LSU's loss is now Notre Dame's gain.

   Maybe mom has a codocil that allows him to bail if Anger Management Kelly yells at her son on national TV. If every quarterback had that provision in his letter of intent, Notre Dame would be playing the single wing.

Anger Management Kelly ended the season the way he started it, yelling at two different quarterbacks in front of a national audience, meanwhile losing a game he should have won against an inferior team from the state of Florida.

Only this was much worse. Coach Brian Kelly's Irish had a 14-point halftime lead. (However, this Florida State team had tons more talent that South Florida in the opener.) But the Champps Bowl loss last week had the fans squeamish again.

Leave Tommy Rees alone and start teaching after the game.

Leave Andrew Hendrix alone and start teaching after the game.

Plus, it's gonna be a long offseason with Michael Floyd possibly going in the first round of the NFL Draft and tight end Tyler Eiffort maybe in the second. (Which would give the Irish Floyd, Eiffort, Kyle Rudolph and Golden Tate in the NFL not to mention Armando Allen, if he sticks).

So much for Anger Management Kelly playing Charlie Weis' recruits.

Whoever is the quarterback next season, he won't have five NFL prospects the way Dayne Crist did last year. The cupboard is bare. Run all your screens and draw plays you want with Theo Riddick.

 And Crist will be playing for Weis at Kansas. Now Weis had no clue at Notre Dame except for recruiting talent. Somehow, he convinced Crist to come to ND one year after Jimmy Clausen. Both had been megstars in California prep circles. Crist no doubt had watched Clausen's progress.

But Crist signed on anyway and somehow Weis convinced him to stay while Clausen flourished and had one of the most remarkable years for an Irish QB in 2009.

 But Crist's best game came last year came in that remarkable overtime loss to Michigan State, which won on a fake field goal in overtime that sent the coach to the hospital with a heart attack. That win turned the Spartans program around and they punctuated it with a big win Monday over Georgia in the Outback Bowl.

Meanwhile, Crist, once one of the highest recruited players in the country, lost all of his confidence and it all came crashing down with the most symbolic play of the Irish season, a fumble near the USC goal line that turned into a touchdown for the Trojans.

Some pundits had the Irish as a top 10 team early in the season.  Many, including Lou Holtz, thought they would run the table after the South Florida debacle and the heartbreaking loss at Michigan.

Didn't happen.

The Irish were humbled at home by USC and demolished in Andrew Luck's home finale at Stanford.

And the final tab of 8-5 has to be troubling.

Weis got ridiculed for underachieving, but his 6-6 ledger in 2009 came against an unbelievable schedule and they had a chance to win every game.

This team left the Orlando field dazed and confused. And what high school stud quarterback would want to come to Notre Dame to play for Anger Management Kelly?

Apparently not Gunner Kiel, who opted for LSU last week.

NBC can't be happy watching its premier sports programming show on Saturdays fall on its face, especially when it really does have the talent to compete, which seemed to be an issue before.

Penn State has a ton of damage control as it seeks out a new leader for the future.

It is time for the cognoscenti in South Bend to do the same.

  Notre Dame lost out on the nation's top quarterback recurit for 2012 when Gunner Kiel, nephew of former Irish QB Blair Kiel, committed to play for Indiana, according to reports in the Indianapolis Star and The Republic of Columbus newspapers.

  New Indiana coach Kevin Wilson helped develop Sam Bradford at Oklahoma.

  Earlier this month, another top QB recruit Maty Mauk from Ohio committed to play for Missouri.

Brian Kelly will never be able to shake the shame involved regarding the tragic death of student manager Declan Sullivan, who died in October when a video tower collapsed during unsafe extremely windy conditions while filming practice.

Kelly should not have left Sullivan alone on the tower. The student used Twitter explaining how dangerous it was. The team practiced the day before indoors because of the violent winds.

The school admitted guilt and was fined $77,500 by the state for negligence. They played football for their next scheduled game and the students showed up instead of protesting the nationally-televised game.

Somehow Kelly didn't get fired and the glow of a hollow bowl win over an embarrassing Miami team has continued throughout 2011.

Kelly and his staff sure as hell can recruit, so the return to glory is almost assured. You get the players now and you WILL win later.

But the blood on his hands will never go away.

George O'Leary got fired for a few venial sins on a resume.

Kelly will be playing in a BCS bowl game on New Year's Day and the faithful will be happy. 

But they should never forget Declan Sullivan.

Dear fans,

  Don't drink too much Guinness so you can enjoy a full day of green jerseys Thursday. Or just set your VCR ... er ... DVR ... to Versus and watch them when you're sober. Have a shamrock shake at McDonald's on me. 

  You can't miss the Snow Bowl, when Rick Mirer beat the dreaded Blue and White (5 p.m. Versus). My poor wife wasn't even born yet, so this one will be particularly sweet if I can get her off Twiitter for five minutes.

  As for the Bush Push game, I don't understand why anyone would want to watch this game again. Either the clock stops and the ball goes back to the 3-yard line, or the ball goes on the 1 but the clock keeps running. At least Matt Leinart and Dwayne Jarrett have had stellar pro careers. (7 p.m.)

   Now the best part, Notre Dame 31, National Champions 24 ... any t shirts out there? Send me an XXLT. Of course, if Pete Bercich doesn't drop the interception on the last drive, Boston College doesn't kick the knuckleball lefty field goal and Kevin McDougal becomes legend. (9 p.m.)

   I will then go to sleep and dream in black and white about these three games:

    Notre Dame 10, Michigan State 10: Without Nick Eddy and Terry Hanratty, they still outplayed Bubba Smith and the Spartans in East Lansing. Ara got bad pub for far too long. Let's play OT now and see who wins. Hanratty has plenty left in him, heck, he's got a kid going to South Bend this fall. Plenty of young blood in those legs.

    Notre Dame 26, Purdue 14: Leroy Keyes takes a fumble and goes 98 yards and the No. 2 Boilermakers are rolling. But Nick Eddy runs the ensuing kickoff back 100 yards and the race is on. Two hours later Jim Seymour is legend and every kid on my block is wearing No. 85.

    Notre Dame 24, Texas 11 (1971 Cotton Bowl). Joe Theismann ended Texas' 30-game winning streak and every kid on my block switched to Tom Gatewood. Ara outcoached Darrell Royal, whose claim to fame in my book is that he recruited Mickey Mantle to play football.

  Notre Dame comes to visit Philadelphia for an Oct. 11 date with Temple at Lincoln Financial Field in 2014, assuming the Mayan calendar is wrong.  And the biggest loser that day could be Penn State.

  In the press release announcing the three-game series with Temple, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said: “We’re looking forward to bringing the Fighting Irish back to Philadelphia and providing our strong East Coast fan base another opportunity to see its team in person.”

   What he really meant was: “We are ecstatic that we will be able to tell our top-shelf recruits from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland that you can get as many tickets for your family to watch you play.”

   Last month, Notre Dame assistant coach Charley Molnar visited Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, setting up meetings with top 2012 recruits Colin Thompson, Desmon Peoples, Frank Taylor and Brandon Arcidicano and invited them to Notre Dame’s Junior Day on Feb. 26.

   Notre Dame will be aggressively recruiting prime Penn State real estate. The big prize could be Allentown Central Catholic star quarterback Brendan Nosovitch, who had 602 total yards in the Pennsylvania Class AAA 49-27 win over Wood, running for 182 yards and passing for 420.  He had five TD passes and ran for two more.

   And recruiting will be key for Temple, too, because the key players in the games that will be played in 2013 (tentative) 2014 (definite) and Sept. 26, 2015 (in South Bend) will be new coach Steve Addazio’s first crops. He came late on the scene this year, trying desperately to keep those who had already committed to Temple before coach Al Golden left for Miami.

   Addazio did well, with only one top lineman leaving, but he was so good that he went with Golden to become a Hurricane.

   Not everyone is sure how good a head coach Addazio will be on the collegiate level, and he struggled at times as offensive coordinator at Florida last year (just ask Penn State). But if anyone saw him at the Philadelphia Sports Writers dinner on Jan. 31, they sure know one thing. He can get you pumped up in a hurry. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was so impressed, he had a hard time following him at the microphone, but sources say he is out of eligibility anyway. Comedian Joe Conklin, who brought the crowd to tears of laughter with  his impressions of Manuel and Allen Iverson, no doubt is working up his Addazio right now.  But Addazio and his crew will have to take it up a few notches because his star players are heading to the NFL Combine this week (Muhammad Wilkerson, Peanut Joseph  and Jaquan Jarrett).

   However, it is Penn State’s recruiting base just got invaded by the crew that somehow talked stud linebacker Ishaq Williams from leaving his Brooklyn home (I wonder how far away he lived from where JoePa grew up) and skip a final visit to State College, instead giving an oral commitment to the Irish. A few days later, he was enrolled in school in South Bend.

  So the stakes just got raised for Penn State. Notre Dame is in the house, Joe Paterno isn’t making house calls and Steve Addazio just got someone he doesn’t even know to do 25 one-armed pushups while listening to Temple’s fight song. (Parts of the preceding sentence were facetious.)

   Maybe Penn State will get its share of players from Archbishop Wood. Maybe Brendan Nosovitch will battle Rob Bolden for the starting QB job in 2013. Maybe Tom Bradley won’t interview for any more head coaching jobs. But one thing seems certain, Brian Kelly may not be a great game coach, but his staff sure can recruit.

  And at Happy Valley, it will déjà vu all over again, all over again.

  Now you know why this blog is called NotreDamus. It was predicted in July 2010 that football talks between Notre Dame and Temple were serious.      http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/temple/98622184.html

   The three-game series will start in 2014, with the first game the Linc on Oct. 11. The next year, the Owls will travel to South Bend for a Sept. 26 game. Notre Dame also gets a home game in either 2013 or 2016 depending upon the Irish's scheduling issues for 2013.

  Here is the press release from Temple:

"Temple is pleased to announce our new agreement with Notre Dame, one of the truly great programs in the history of college football,” said Temple Athletic Director Bill Bradshaw. “This is an exciting opportunity for Temple University, our football program, and the best sport fans anywhere-- here in Philadelphia. We are committed to playing the best programs in the country, and Notre Dame fits perfectly into our vision of bringing the best to the City of Philadelphia for our alumni and our fans.”

 “We are excited to have the opportunity to play Notre Dame,” said head coach Steve Addazio, who coached at Notre Dame (1999-2001) for three seasons. “This series is good for our players, our fans, and Philadelphia. Notre Dame’s football tradition and national recognition are second to none. Playing strong non-conference opponents is a part of our blueprint, and Temple fans will not be disappointed.”

 Despite their extensive football histories, the schools have never met on the gridiron.  Notre Dame, however, has played in the City of Philadelphia 16 times since 1928, posting a 14-1-1 record before nearly a million fans. The Fighting Irish have visited Penn five times at Franklin Field, going 4-1 against the Quakers from 1930 to 1955.  Notre Dame has also played at Municipal/JFK Stadium eight times and at Veterans Stadium twice.

 “It’s been nearly 20 years since a Notre Dame football team has played in Philadelphia, so we're excited about the opportunity to do so, in the process playing a Temple program for the first time in our history,” Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick said.

 “Temple’s football team is clearly a program on the rise, and it will pose great tests for us each year we play,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. “We’re looking forward to bringing the Fighting Irish back to Philadelphia and providing our strong East Coast fan base another opportunity to see its team in person.”

 Temple football, a member of the Mid-American Conference since 2007, continues to play strong non-conference opponents. Last fall Temple announced a three-game series extension with Penn State through 2016, and a new four-game series with regional foe Rutgers through 2018.

Notre Dame Football History in Philadelphia

Date                                      Opponent                           Score                     Stadium (attendance)

Nov. 3, 1928                       vs. Penn State                   W, 9-0                   Franklin Field (30,000)

Nov. 8, 1930                       at Pennsylvania                W, 60-20              Franklin Field (75, 657)

Sept. 27, 1952                    at Pennsylvania                T, 7-7                     Franklin Field (74,518)

Nov. 7, 1953                       at Pennsylvania                W, 28-20              Franklin Field (74,711)

Nov. 6, 1954                       at Pennsylvania                W, 42-7                 Franklin Field (61,189)

Nov. 5, 1955                       at Pennsylvania                W, 46-14              Franklin Field (45,226)

Oct. 12, 1957                      vs. Army                              W, 23-21              Municipal Stadium (95,000)

Oct. 29, 1960                      vs. Navy                               L, 7-14                   Municipal Stadium (63,000)

Nov. 3, 1962                       vs. Navy                               W, 20-12              Municipal Stadium (35,000)

Oct. 31, 1964                      vs. Navy                               W, 40-0                 JFK Stadium (66,752)

Oct. 29, 1966                      vs. Navy                               W, 31-7                 JFK Stadium (70,101)

Nov. 2, 1968                       vs. Navy                               W, 45-14              JFK Stadium (63,738)

Oct. 31, 1970                      vs. Navy                               W, 56-7                 JFK Stadium (45,226)

Nov. 4, 1972                       vs. Navy                               W, 42-23              JFK Stadium (43,089)

Nov. 2, 1974                       vs. Navy                               W, 14-6                 Veterans Stadium (48,634)

Oct. 30, 1993                      vs. Navy                               W, 58-27              Veterans Stadium (61,813)

Totals                                    16 games                             14-1-1                   953,654 fans (59,603 average)

This just in from California and the LA Times: The Irish beat out dreaded rival USC for Troy Niklas, the Los Angeles Times' lineman of the year, the premier lineman in Southern California. Niklas, from Anaheim Servite, wanted to go to Stanford, but his academics weren't good enough.  No word from Harvard. Freshman calculus class may be his first true test.

Some at ND feel that the 6-7 Niklas may actually play on defense with other freshman studs where he will join 6-6 DE Ishaq Williams of Lincoln H.S. in Brooklyn (already enrolled) and the most interesting signee, super-recruit DE Stephon Tuitt of Georgia, who committed to South Bend, then decommitted, committed to Georgia Tech, then decommitted and finally sent in his letter of intent today to the Irish.

Coach Brian Kelly got 23 new recruits, with a heavy emphasis on a predatory defense.

Chalk this one up in the W column, where the real battle occurs every year.

Notre Dame got a commitment from star linebacker Ishaq Williams from Lincoln High School in Brooklyn over the weekend because it outworked everyone, including Penn State, which was supposed to get a visit Saturday. instead, the Nittany Lions, formerly known as Linebacker U., got snubbed and stunned.

While Irish coach Brian Kelly and his staff earned the commitment by being there at four in the morning, one can only wonder why Penn State is asleep at the wheel as the entire recruiting world, and especially the recruits, say that the uncertainty of octogenarian coach Joe Paterno's future hangs over the program like a guillotine, especially with top recruiter Tom Bradley interviewing for every opening for a head coach.  

Williams is a 6-6, 230-pound pass rushing phenom. Former Temple coach Al Golden and his top assistant Mark D'Onofrio went straight to Coney Island on their way to Miami, knowing that Williams is a difference maker.  The Irish certainly have stepped up their game where it counts the most: recruiting. Forget the Sun Bowl win.

That's ancient history now and it was a walkover anyway because Miami, with a lame duck staff, quit before they even played the game. And the Irish had loads of talent this year, don't let anyone tell you differently.  

The Irish had a terrible year, with no one else to blame.