Weis considers starting Sharpley over Clausen against USC

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame might use its third starting quarterback of the season when the Fighting Irish face No. 13 USC on Saturday.

Coach Charlie Weis said Sunday he had not decided whether to stay with freshman Jimmy Clausen, who has started the past five games, or switch to junior Evan Sharpley, who has rallied the Irish (1-6) in the second halves to pull Notre Dame close against Purdue and Boston College.

Weis will announce his decision Tuesday.

The Irish opened the season with Demetrius Jones starting in a 33-3 loss to Georgia Tech. He was replaced by Sharpley, who was replaced by Clausen as all three were ineffective. Jones left the team a week after Clausen was named the starter for the second game against Penn State.

Sharpley has maintained a good attitude, saying he trusts the coaches to make the right decision.

"It's not up to me. It's up to other people," Sharpley said after the game Saturday. "Hopefully I keep improving and we keep improving and getting better."

Sharpley has been improving and closing the gap on Clausen, Weis said.

"Every week it's closer," he said.

Weis has repeatedly said Clausen has been the starter because he's been more accurate throwing. The statistics back him up. Clausen is 81-of-141 passing for a 57.4 completion rate, while Sharpley is 43-of-80 with a 53.8 completion rate.

Weis indicated the numbers aren't as close in practice, so Sharpley needs to look better in practice.

"If he wants to move past Jimmy, which I know he does, it's got to be an every day thing, it can't just be a game day thing," he said.

The more telling stat, though, might be that Sharpley has thrown slightly more than half as many passes as Clausen but has three TD passes to Clausen's one. Sharpley has thrown two interceptions to Clausen's five and has a 111.42 pass efficiency rating to Clausen's 89.51.

Immediately after Clausen was yanked for throwing his second interception against BC -- leading to a touchdown that gave the Eagles a 20-0 lead -- Sharpley led the Irish on a seven-play, 79-yard scoring drive. He was 4-of-7 passing during the drive connecting on passes of 28, 2, 15 and 19 yards.