Heralded California QB Jimmy Clausen committed to Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weis on Saturday. Another familiar name, Jonnie West, a 6-3 shooting guard from Memphis, has signed with West Virginia. West's dad Jerry played at West Virginia before becoming a LA Lakers star, the model for the NBA logo and GM of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Clausen's decision was first reported by ESPN college football analyst Lou Holtz. Clausen, a high school senior-to-be, made his announcement at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend.

Clausen chose the Irish over USC so he could be mentored by Weis. Clausen is now the front-runner to replace the graduating Brady Quinn as Notre Dame's starter in 2007.

Clausen, 6-foot-3 and 207 pounds, has thrown 88 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions in his past two seasons at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village, Calif., his team averaging 53 points a game. He is 27-0 as a starter, has completed 68 percent of his passes over the last two years, has thrown for 7,234 career yards and will have one of his high school games televised live next September on ESPN2.

He is the younger brother of recent Tennessee quarterbacks Casey and Rick Clausen, although both brothers say Jimmy is more accurate, more unflappable and more polished a player.

"He's better than both of us right now," Rick Clausen has said.

Weis, the former Patriots offensive coordinator, first saw film of Clausen last summer, as a sophomore, and quickly made him his No. 1 recruiting priority. Weis went on to sign two quarterbacks from the Class of 2006 -- Zach Frazer of Pennsylvania and Demetrius Jones of Chicago --- but turned down a chance to sign the class's No. 1 QB prospect, Arkansas' Mitch Mustain, so he could save room for Clausen in 2007.

Clausen, who has a 3.3 GPA and has taken courses at Ventura (Calif.) Junior College so he can graduate high school early, will enroll at Notre Dame in January.

Jimmy Clausen is considered by many to be the top recruit in America. Picture SI.com

Welcome to OWENS Rules…

For years the Cowboys have had an off-season training program. All teams have “voluntary” off-season training programs. For years the Cowboys program has been one of the best attended. And, Bill Parcells has always been a stickler about this. He wants his athletes to attend about 40 of these “voluntary” workouts. Well, T.O. isn’t going to come close. He’s going to work out on his own. His schedule is too busy to be burdened.

Owens has appeared at Valley Ranch a handful of times. Then he goes away for awhile. And he might come back in a couple weeks. He’s not going to let these “voluntary” workouts get in the way of his life.

Jerry Jones came out yesterday and told us that TO and Bill have worked out something. And that, “…we don’t get into what our guys do voluntarily in the off-season…” Huh? I think D. Hambrick might disagree with that statement.

It’s fine that Bill and Terrell have come to an agreement. But my question is: when did they work out this agreement. Did it happen yesterday? Or is it something that was in the master plan? If it was in the master plan, why are we just now finding out about it?

There’s a message being sent here. The same message was sent when the Cowboys offered Owens $10 million up front. The message is that they will do anything to win. Anything. Even if it means twisting the rules. A team is expected to tow the line. A team can’t have 50 different sets of rules.

Terrell Owens has shown an ability to tear up locker rooms. And, I just hope that this is not the first sign that locker room is in danger. Why can’t TO be expected to conform to the rules that everyone else has on the football team?

Florida made a strong pitch Wednesday night for Gilmer quarterback G.J. Kinne. Florida coach Urban Meyer loves Kinne's run and pass ability for his zone-read, option offense. Urban and Florida assistants had a lengthy conference call with Kinne. The UIL affirmed Kinne's athletic eligibility on Thursday morning at a UIL hearing in Waco.

Kinne (6-2, 205) also has received offer from Oklahoma, Texas A&M, USC, Tennessee, Alabama and Baylor, where his dad, Gary Joe Kinne became an assistant in January. Texas didn't offer Kinne a scholarship and already has two commitments from quarterbacks.

Kinne transferred to Gilmer last month. He had starred at Canton the last three years but transferred citing safety issues. Kinne's father was seriously wounded last April when a disgruntled Canton parent shot in Kinne in the school fieldhouse. The man received 20 years in prison in March. Kinne left Canton to become a Baylor assistant. G.J. Kinne and his mother moved to Gilmer citing safety issues at Canton.

Gilmer is expected to be one of the state's top Class 3A team, but Canton cancelled an anticipated matchup between the two schools in the East Texas Classic after the transfer. An opponent for Gilmer has yet to be named.

Kinne's Gilmer eligibility was not certified in a District 13-3A meeting. Pittsburg and Mineola didn't approve Kinne's eligibility while Gladewater and Sabine did. The UIL made the final decision Friday.

Irving Nimitz named Steve Hohenberger as football coach to replace 26-year Vikings coach Mike Farda, who has left to become Maypearl AD. The popular Paris North Lamar graduate, the 31-year-old Hohenberger was the clear choice among remaining staff and players to succeed Farda. Hohenberger was defensive coordinator last season and has brought energy and enthusiasm since arriving as an assistant eight years ago from Southeastern Oklahoma, where he played and was a GA.