Irish AD Swarbrick nixes Weis' recruiting trip

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP)

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis won't stay on the West Coast to recruit as planned after the Fighting Irish play at Stanford. Athletic director Jack Swarbrick said Tuesday during a taping of his radio show for WLS Radio 890 in Chicago, which normally airs on Saturday, that Weis will fly back with the team. "He's going to return from Stanford back to campus," Swarbrick said. Weis had said Sunday he planned to stay on the West Coast recruiting, just as he had last year when he and Swarbrick met to discuss his future after the regular-season finale at USC. A message seeking comment was left for Swarbrick on his cell phone Tuesday evening by The Associated Press. Swarbrick's comments became public after Weis' weekly news conference on Tuesday. Weis wasn't in a reflective mood at what could be the final weekly news conference at his alma mater. Two days after saying he couldn't argue if Notre Dame officials decided to fire him with a 6-5 record, Weis set the tone with his opening comment: "I have a news flash. We have a football game this Saturday evening against Stanford, so let's see if we can't talk about that," he said. To make sure players and assistant coaches don't get off point, Weis canceled all interviews for the week several hours after he talked with reporters. So Weis will be the only voice being heard from the Irish team this week, although the school did provide reporters with quotes from players. Weis stopped reporters who tried to ask questions on most issues other than Stanford or Irish players in most instances during the news conference Tuesday. "I talked on Sunday about all the state of the union and all that other stuff, today we're talking about Stanford. Let's talk about Stanford," he said. Weis tried to dismiss talk Tuesday that his players might have trouble getting up for Stanford after an emotional loss against Connecticut, the final home game for seniors - and possibly Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate, who have said they will decide after the season if they will enter the NFL draft. Weis said he's not worried about his players. "Everyone has been waiting for a total collapse, and we've lost a lot of games, and I'm right at the forefront of that right there, but the bottom line is, they're fighting to the end of every game," Weis said. "There's no reason for me to believe it's going to be any different this week." Asked about his own emotions, Weis said he was doing fine. "I'm fired up to go out and play Stanford. I'm really looking forward to it," he said. Some players talked after the Connecticut loss about how they were still in disbelief of losing their third straight after thinking they might be vying for a Bowl Championship Series berth. Weis said he was confident the players would follow the tone he sets at practice. "When I feel good about it, it usually carries over with them. When I get fired up about the game plan, it's like, 'Come on, fellas, let's go," he said. Weis likely will head into the regular-season finale without tailback Armando Allen Jr. Allen, who leads the Irish with 733 yards rushing, cracked a bone in his right hand in the second half against Connecticut. Allen was not at practice Tuesday during the media viewing period. Tight end Kyle Rudolph, who missed the past two games with a muscle injury in his left shoulder, has been cleared to practice and will try to play against Stanford. "It's how much pain he'll be able to tolerate," Weis said.