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No alma mater after a loss.

That's Notre Dame's new home-game policy, instituted two years ago and cleared up Sunday by coach Brian Kelly during his teleconference, a day after some postgame confusion ensued following the Irish's 35-21 home loss to Oklahoma, with some players leaving immediately before most bee-lined toward the student section to engage in song.

The Irish's 10-game home winning streak was snapped by the Sooners so the players were not exactly versed in this exercise.

"A lot of our players were confused because they hadn't lost, a lot of them had never lost at home, and they weren't sure what to do," Kelly said. "I didn't communicate it to them clearly, what the protocol was, but we changed that protocol two years ago after a loss.

"We don't stay out on the field to sing the alma mater. We come in. And that wasn't communicated clearly. I wasn't thinking about losing a football game; it wasn't on my to-do list to go over with my team. It's a protocol we changed a couple years ago that we do not stay out on the field after the alma mater to sing after a loss."

Former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis had started the routine in the 2006 season, his second with the Irish.

"I just don't think it's appropriate to put your players after a defeat in a situation where they're exposed," Kelly said Sunday. "I want to get them in the locker room. It's important to talk to them, and I just felt like in those situations, after a loss, there's a lot of emotions. It's important to get the team back into the locker room and get them under my guidance."

Notes: Kelly will talk to ACC officials about Ben Councell's second-half ejection Saturday for targeting. Councell, by rule, has to sit the first half this coming Saturday against Arizona State. Romeo Okwara will likely take his spot as the No. 2 Dog linebacker. … Sheldon Day "tweaked" his ankle during warmups against Oklahoma, causing Kelly to sit him after he missed last week with an ankle sprain. TJ Jones "rolled" his ankle Saturday but should be fine moving forward. … Greg Bryant did not play because of a knee injury suffered this past week. … Tommy Rees is "certainly" Notre Dame's starting quarterback, with Andrew Hendrix serving as a complementary piece. Kelly said that, barring an injury situation to either signal-caller, he'd prefer not to play freshman Malik Zaire this season.

Here is what we take away from Notre Dame's 35-21 loss Saturday to Oklahoma.

1. Expectations should be adjusted. Yes, Notre Dame's schedule is front-loaded. But the team can't play the way it has the last four weeks and expect to win. Teams better than Purdue and Michigan State eventually were going to make them pay again, and Oklahoma did just that Saturday in getting off to a 14-0 start and converting three turnovers into 21 points. Arizona State, USC and Stanford are probably the three biggest games remaining. And while crazier things have happened in college football, Notre Dame has given little indication through August and September that it can win out and become a BCS bowl team.

2. Ground game gains traction. George Atkinson III had a career day, rushing for 148 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries. The Irish ran for 220 yards as a team, five more than they did last year during their win in Norman, Okla. Tarean Folston showed some promise on his 36-yard first-quarter burst, as well. If there is a silver lining to take away from this contest for Irish fans, it is certainly that the rushing offense seems finally to have found its footing.

3. Hendrix offers a changeup. Part of that extra running dimension came from inserting Andrew Hendrix into some zone-read plays. Hendrix finished with only 10 yards on five carries and misfired on his only pass attempt. Still, he offers a nice change of pace under center against good defenses, and he adds a little more creativity to an offense that has been stale at times early in the season. It is nice to see his size, speed and strength being put to use in some form or another as a redshirt junior.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After Oklahoma called a timeout with 1:21 to play and the ball at the Notre Dame 17-yard line on Saturday, "Boomer! Sooner!" chants began to rain down from the crimson-clad contingent seated near Notre Dame Stadium's northeast corner, threatening to turn this place into Owen Field North. The Irish's student section responded with furious chants of "Let's Go, Irish!"

Two kneels and one final horn later, everyone was left to figure out where these Irish go from here.

Notre Dame had been flirting with a result like this in its previous three games. And, just like they did against Michigan three weeks ago, the Irish once again ran into a team more than happy to take advantage of another rough opening.

Starting painfully slow is just no way to live. And after a 35-21 loss to Oklahoma, Notre Dame's second defeat this month, neither is essentially having to win seven remaining games to return to a BCS bowl for the second year in a row.

"You never expect those things, but they happen," coach Brian Kelly said of the Irish's early mistakes. "That's why we have ulcers in this business."

In front of a green-out crowd against the Sooners, those gaffes were interceptions on back-to-back Tommy Rees throws on the Irish's first two drives, leading to an early 14-0 deficit. Much like Michigan showed in Notre Dame's other loss -- and much like Purdue and Michigan State couldn't, try as they might -- Oklahoma proved once again that shootouts are not conducive to the Irish's style.

Rees threw three picks against the Sooners, which accounted for one more than the two he had thrown in four starts entering the contest. Oklahoma converted those turnovers into 21 points, including a 24-yard Corey Nelson pick-six on the game's first possession.

Andrew Hendrix provided a nice wrinkle in some zone-read packages, and the Irish finally got the ground game going behind George Atkinson III, who tallied a career-best 148 yards.

But after falling behind by two scores, they began just two drives while trailing by just one score -- the second of which ended with Rees getting picked off by Julian Wilson on third-and-10 with the Irish in field goal range. Oklahoma then went 88 yards in 10 plays to take a 21-7 lead 42 seconds before halftime.

"I don't know about a dream-like start," Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said, "but a good start."

Stoops went on to say that toughness was not a problem with his Sooners, and that they did not lose to the Irish at home last year because of physical football.

Call it what whatever you want, but it was something that Notre Dame mastered last year, especially in its near-perfect outing in Norman.

Then, the Irish won the turnover battle 1-0. They limited Oklahoma to just 15 rushing yards. They won 30-13.

On Saturday, they lost the turnover battle 3-0. They surrendered 212 rushing yards. And they were down 14-0 less than three minutes into the game.

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I don't know how we fix our slow start," co-captain TJ Jones said. "I think it's just kind of a collective thing to come out with -- I really don't know what it is. Whether it's feeding off the energy and executing plays or not letting the mis-execution of plays slow us down."

Added Kelly: "Look, if I knew what that was, I would not be standing here right now. I'd be doing something else. This is my 23rd year as a head coach. You never expect to not pick up the simplest of stunts and have your quarterback get the ball stripped. You never expect not to run the right route when you're supposed to."

No, Notre Dame does not know how it got here, and it does not exactly know how to leave here, either. The student section booed heavily when the Irish began to head up the tunnel instead of staying for the alma mater. Fifth-year senior Carlo Calabrese urged his teammates to come back out and sing, per postgame ritual. They obliged, though it turns out a new team policy, instituted two years ago, calls for the players to regroup first in the locker room following a loss before reappearing and crooning.

Notre Dame had not lost in the 10 home games since the creation of that policy, a streak that came to an end against the Sooners. The Irish's national title dreams -- the Jan. 6 date at the BCS National Championship that is listed inside the football complex for all to see — are long gone. Their BCS bowl hopes are on life support.

"This season's a new season, we're a different team," co-captain Bennett Jackson said. "We have different characteristics as a team, and we take each game each week. We can't do anything about the past. As a team, we're going to come together and try to win the rest of our games. That's our main objective."

Tommy Rees' college career has been anything but conventional. At different stages of his Notre Dame tenure, Rees has been hailed as a rookie savior, a turnover machine and an elite closer. He led the Irish as a freshman to their first victory at rival USC in 10 years. He took over for Dayne Crist in Game 1 of a sophomore season that ended with 20 turnovers. He saved three of the Irish's first six games during their undefeated regular season in his junior campaign.

He has been arrested and booed by his home crowd, too.

Now, through circumstances beyond his control, Rees enters his final year as the odds-on favorite to open the 2013 season as Notre Dame's starting quarterback. His 18 career starts are 18 more than any other signal-caller on the roster, and he has a chance to enhance his complicated legacy by leading a team coming off a BCS title game appearance.

"It's tough, but you definitely don't take anything for granted," Rees said April 19, when asked about approaching his senior year. "You come out there every day excited because you never know when your last practice might be. And the group of guys that I've come through with and developed with, it's exciting and it's bittersweet, but we've got a lot of time left here and we're looking forward to a really good season."

Rees will likely be a big key if the Irish are to have that kind of season, though coach Brian Kelly was noncommittal about naming a starter during a Tuesday conference call that addressed the school suspension of Everett Golson this fall. The fourth-year Irish coach said that Rees, redshirt junior Andrew Hendrix and true freshman Malik Zaire would all have opportunities to compete for the No. 1 role.

"It’s certainly going to be a challenge -- he was our starting quarterback, he started in the national championship game," Kelly said of moving forward without Golson. "But we’re very fortunate that we’ve got experienced quarterbacks in Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix. … These guys have been in the program now, they’ve been with us going on our fourth year. We have great relationships, a great understanding of our offense."

Rees has embodied Kelly's count-on-me mantra every step of the way. He has won the team's official Next Man In award twice in his first three years with the program, and the mentality that has earned him that hardware is the same one that can help minimize concern about Golson's departure.

"It's a team game; there can only be one quarterback," Rees said last month. "But all four of us go out there and compete like we want to be the guy. And we've done a good job balancing that out, and the coaches have done a good job of communicating and splitting the reps. I feel really good about the spring. I think all of us got better and all of us have been the best we have been, and I'm excited to move forward."

No one will mistake Rees' arm strength and agility with those of Golson, but the aspiring coach has the football IQ to overcome those deficiencies. Coaches and players talked last season about nuances that Rees would point out to Golson on the sideline and in the locker room during games, part of a relationship that carried over from when the two roomed in camp -- time that Golson used to ultimately win the job.

Now the opportunity is there for Rees to step in again, to prove that the "Turnover Tommy" moniker from 2011 is a thing of the past and that he can effectively guide a team with BCS aspirations for an extended period of time.

"Tommy knows exactly what the expectations are for him," Kelly said Tuesday. "He was a huge part of our undefeated season. He’s going to be a part of this season as well. He knows what we expect of him on a day-to-day basis. And just like a guy who can’t make tackles, you're probably not going to be on the field if you can’t tackle, and you’re probably not going to be on the field if you throw interceptions -- whether you’re Tommy Rees or Malik Zaire or Everett Golson. So that’s pretty established within our program as to what the expectations are."

So it turns out the decision by three Notre Dame players to transfer near the start of spring ball serves as the least notable headline in a Fighting Irish offseason that has brought one stunner after another.

From the flirtation of coach Brian Kelly with the Philadelphia Eagles in the days after the title-game humiliation, to the tabloid-worthy Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax revelation, to quarterback Gunner Kiel and two sophomore receivers finding new homes, to the uncertainty surrounding prized recruit Eddie Vanderdoes, the Irish have had little to cheer about in 2013, though last year's success provided more than enough reason for optimism heading into the fall.

Now comes the news that Everett Golson is not enrolled in school, a Memorial Day weekend shocker that changes everything for these Irish.

Golson is not the first Notre Dame player to get in trouble in what are supposed to be the quiet days after the school year is over -- he's not even the first Notre Dame quarterback to do so, as former starter Tommy Rees was arrested last May, earning himself a one-game suspension.

But for a coach and program that found a leader to take the offense where Kelly and the Irish want it, this news is a potential backbreaker, pending Golson's eventual status with the school.

Golson took advantage of Rees' being relegated to a glorified graduate assistant last August, assuming control of the offense as a redshirt freshman and leading Notre Dame to its first perfect regular season in 24 years.

By all accounts, Golson had made even bigger strides in 2013, including his respectable title-game performance against an Alabama team that turned most of his teammates into shells of themselves.

Golson added weight, communicated more effectively on the field and off, and absorbed so much of the playbook that he had to be told to slow down by the end of this spring.

All along, he was seen as the key to a spread offense that Kelly wants to be quarterback-driven. And with upward of 39 college starts remaining in Golson's career, Notre Dame appeared to finally have its long-term answer at the game's most important position.

Now that position is a huge question mark moving forward, however cold Rees' veins proved to be when rescuing the Irish time and time again in 2012. Andrew Hendrix has two years of eligibility left, and lefty blue-chipper Malik Zaire enrolled this spring.

None was groomed to carry the load this fall the way Golson had been, on an offense that features two new starting linemen, is down its top two running backs from last year, and has no sure answer to replace record-setter Tyler Eifert at tight end.

Keep in mind, too, that this unit finished just 54th in total offense and tied for 78th in scoring offense during last year's memorable run.

This was supposed to be a quiet spring at Notre Dame. And, unlike last year's, for the most part it was. The summer months before camp were supposed to be about closing the gap with Alabama, discovering the nuances that create a championship team.

Much of that was because of Notre Dame's quarterback. Without him, all of it is now in question.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — With his first spring as The Guy at Notre Dame winding down, Everett Golson is scaling back.

He has had to do this before, whether it was relearning a few things after a rocky home debut last season or spending more time in the athletic trainer's room than he would have liked after his relatively small frame took too many hits throughout 2012.

But with Season 1 as Notre Dame's starting quarterback in the rear-view mirror, with the experience of a national title game under his belt and with outside starting threat Gunner Kiel off to Cincinnati, Golson, at times, simply has not stopped talking.

Now the fun begins for the Fighting Irish offense, a unit that faces at least the possibility of having the same man directing it for 39 more games, this after each of coach Brian Kelly's previous three springs with the program began with quarterback uncertainty.

"I don’t know that you could even put him in the same category with where he started last year to where he is now," Kelly said of Golson. "Strong command of our offense. I think where we’re at with him more than anything else is we have to now begin to pull back a little bit. He wants to do a little bit too much. He knows his toolbox very well. He didn’t know anything relative to what he had for tools last year in terms of what he could do with the offense.

"Now, he wants to maybe do a little too much, so we’re at a totally different point in his development. I think the thing that stands out the most to me, though, is his command. His communication and command and his leadership has been evident as we started spring ball."

Whereas Golson entered last spring as one of four candidates fighting for the starting job, this year, he is being more assertive, taking coaching better and strengthening his relationship with position coach Chuck Martin by exchanging calls and texts or by shooting around on the basketball court when time allows for it.

Golson is becoming a more vocal presence on the field, and he is making the leap in what Kelly hopes will eventually be a quarterback-driven offense.

Notre Dame finished 80th nationally in scoring offense last season, getting to 12-1 in large part on the back of the nation's No. 2 scoring defense and by minimizing the turnover chaos that had plagued it a season earlier.

"I think for me personally it's more on us, just because I expect more of us," said Golson, who netted 2,703 total yards, 18 touchdowns (12 passing, six running) and 10 turnovers while completing better than 58 percent of his throws last season.

"Last year, 2012, we didn't really make our mark. You can kind of blame it on excuses -- it was our fist year going through it -- but at the end of the day, we didn't do our job. So that's definitely an emphasis for me personally to make this offense better and have a better season."

Fifth-year left tackle Zack Martin said of Golson: "Every week he was better, and better not only on the field but in practice with the offensive line, with the other receivers. That's the stuff we see from him on a consistent basis now. We expect Everett to be out front, telling the offense what to do. We expect him to be out there, and he's done a great job this spring."

Golson was listed at 185 pounds last season but was likely 10 or so pounds lighter by the end of the season. Bulking up was deemed a point of emphasis in the months after the Jan. 7 title-game loss to Alabama and a 94-carry season. The third-year sophomore is currently listed as nine pounds shy of the goal of 195.

With Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix back for their fourth seasons, Golson knows there is little time to rest on his laurels, especially after an inaugural starting campaign that saw him get yanked three different times, leave another game with a concussion -- which forced him to miss the next game -- and miss the first series of one more contest because he was late for a meeting.

Golson might not be looking over his shoulder the way he had to a season ago, but that does not make him any less cognizant of what he has to do moving forward.

"I don't think I necessarily think about that a lot," he said. "The No. 1 [position] is only good for so much. You go out there and throw a couple picks, who knows? Maybe it's another controversy again and your job is back up. So my thing was I'll never be complacent. I never want to get complacent. Just always stay hungry and stay driven, and that's how I kind of went through this whole process."

With spring practice just more than a week away, we'll go down the depth chart this week and size up what to watch for at each position.

We start today with the quarterbacks.

Starters returning: Everett Golson, Tommy Rees
Players returning: Golson, Rees, Andrew Hendrix
Players departing: Gunner Kiel (transfer)
Newcomers: Malik Zaire

The breakdown: The Kiel departure remains unofficial, though that should change in the very near future. Golson has the leg up on all entering spring and looks like Notre Dame's quarterback of the future after guiding the Irish to a 10-1 record as a starter last season. As a redshirt freshman in 2012, Golson completed 58.8 percent of his passes for 2,405 yards with 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. He rushed it 94 times for 298 yards with six more touchdowns but lost four fumbles, though all came over the season's first six games.

Rees is taken for granted by most but remains an invaluable piece to the program as he enters his senior season. Sixteen starts preceded a May 2012 arrest that ultimately cost him a shot to open the campaign as a starter, but he more than made up for it by saving the Irish late three times over their first six games and starting two others. He completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 436 yards with two touchdowns (one rushing) and two picks.

Hendrix remains the wild card. While the departure of Kiel will only help him in his battle for playing time, he trails Golson and Rees in the experience department but has the arm strength, speed and size that any coach would desire. He appeared in three games last season and completed 5 of 7 throws for 55 yards while rushing it eight times for 41 yards. The pre-med major is entering his fourth year at the school and has a fifth-year option available after not playing during his first fall on campus. Given his tools, the crowded position battle and the undergraduate degree likely coming his way in the near future, Hendrix would surprise no one if he followed Dayne Crist's steps for his fifth year and played at another school. Then again, Kiel is out of the picture, Brian Kelly is never shy about pulling his quarterbacks and far crazier things have happened than watching a guy jump from No. 3 to No. 1. Especially at Notre Dame.

Zaire, an ESPN300 prospect, enrolled in January. The southpaw is a four-star dual-threat signal-caller from Archbishop Alter High School (Kettering, Ohio).

Notre Dame quarterback Gunner Kiel intends to transfer, a source confirmed to ESPN.com.

The website Irish Sports Daily earlier reported that Kiel would transfer.

Notre Dame had no comment. A message left for Kiel's father, Kip, was not returned.

A four-star quarterback from the class of 2012, Kiel drew notoriety for his recruitment after defecting from both Indiana and LSU.

The Columbus (Ind.) High School product redshirted this past fall during the Fighting Irish's run to the Discover BCS National Championship. He is the nephew of former Notre Dame quarterback Blair Kiel, who died last Easter at age 50.

Redshirt freshman Everett Golson won the starting job last fall, with junior Tommy Rees seeing extensive playing time, too.

During his most meeting with reporters on Jan. 5, Kiel said the thought of transferring had not crossed his mind.

"It honestly hasn't," Kiel said during media day at Sun Life Stadium. "I've been more focused on the season and been more focused on school and other things that are more important to me."

Redshirt sophomore Andrew Hendrix was ahead of Kiel on the depth chart last year as well, and Notre Dame welcomed in another signal caller this semester in early enrollee Malik Zaire.

To read the full story, click here.

Andrew Hendrix and the rest of the Notre Dame quarterbacks are ready to help any way they can to beat Alabama for the national championship.

One last look back at the weekend that was for Notre Dame.

The good: Notre Dame is 7-0 for the first time since 2002. It rushed for 270 yards against what was the nation's No. 3 rushing defense, as BYU entered allowing just 67.9 rushing yards per game.

The bad: No one would flat out say it was a "trap," but the Irish certainly lacked the punch they had a week earlier against a ranked Stanford team. Look at NBC Sports' Alex Flanagan's description for further evidence. Notre Dame had just enough in the end, feeling more relief than elation after its seventh straight win to start the season.

The ugly: Troy Niklas is lucky he wasn't ejected after a post-whistle blow to the head of Spencer Hadley. Matthias Farley had a late hit that he certainly would like to have back. Kyle Brindza's two missed field goals almost proved costly, too.

Nice to see you again: Andrew Hendrix entered in the second quarter Saturday, rushing for 14 yards on his first play and hitting Niklas for 2 on his next play before leaving for good. The appearance marked the redshirt sophomore's first action since garbage time in the opener against Navy. "If we were throwing the ball around more and spreading it out and now you have a quarterback that could run the football, maybe he would have seen some more time," Brian Kelly said afterward. "But the way the game played just didn't play into him getting any more reps."

Next up: The undefeated Irish travel to No. 8 Oklahoma to take on the one-loss Sooners. "College GameDay" will be on the scene, and the game will kick off at 8 p.m. ET. The setting will prove the ultimate test for a Notre Dame squad with national title aspirations.

Lots of good questions this week. Let's get right to it.

Harry from Dalton, Ga., writes: Hey Matt. I'm wondering where this puts Hendrix in as far as getting playing time. It appears he is number 3 now and might not get much playing time with Rees having the more experience.

Matt Fortuna: Harry, [Andrew] Hendrix is certainly caught in a bit of a rough situation. He's not good enough to supplant [Everett] Golson as the starter, and he doesn't have the intangibles and experience that [Tommy] Rees has. But I think he still has assets Notre Dame likes. Brian Kelly has not named either the No. 2 quarterback. I'd expect Hendrix to see mostly late-game action in contests that are already decided, much like the Navy opener. Whether that will be enough to help his development -- or enough to surpass either quarterback in their respective roles -- remains to be seen.

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Evan Sharp from South Lyon, Mich., writes: Hey Matt. With all of the recent injuries to the defense especially how do you think that will affect an already questionable defense against RB Bell and an improving QB Maxwell next week? Also what is YOUR input on who will get more reps in East Lansing between Golson vs. Hendrix, Rees and Riddick vs. Atkinson and a returning Wood? Thanks, Evan

Matt Fortuna: Evan, I don't think any of the injuries were serious enough to limit any of the defensive players this week. The only player who won't be able to go is kicker Nick Tausch, who hurt his groin late last week. Golson will start, and the plan is for him to finish. But if he has trouble late like he did last week and the outcome is still up in the air, it will be very interesting to see if Kelly makes the switch to Rees. Theo Riddick will start, and though Cierre Wood and George Atkinson are listed as the co-No. 2 running backs this week, I'd expect Wood to see more carries.

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Mike Lozano from Orlando, Fla., writes: Hi Matt, I'm not sure how to feel about the recent move by ND to affiliate with the ACC. While I'm happy ND will get more exposure to recruits in the southeast & access to the Orange/other bowl games, the 5 game scheduling requirement against ACC teams makes me feel uneasy. Your thoughts?

Matt Fortuna: Mike, it shouldn't. Notre Dame plays four ACC games this season already, if you include Pittsburgh. It played four last season, if you include Florida State in the Champs Sports Bowl. This move is a home run for the Irish, and it gives them plenty of bowl access, which has been arguably the biggest issue the program has faced in recent years.

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Jason from Fishers, Ind., writes: I am just curious where the idea that the Purdue rivalry doesn't have the same history as the others in the Big Ten comes from. ND has played something like 84 games against the Boilers all time, which I believe puts it second on the number of times played list behind Navy. I have been having a discussion with my buddies about this and they are sort of in your camp, believing that the Purdue rivalry will be sacrificed with the new scheduling that takes place. I argue that this rivalry is more important to keep going than all others aside from Navy and USC. The Michigan rivalry has been on again, off again and Stanford is not a true rivalry, just an excuse to get out west. I am of the belief that now, more than previously, the Purdue game matters most because it continues to help recruiting and relevance to the midwest. My thought is that the west coast connection is already fulfilled by USC and always has been. The ACC games give you the southeast on up the east coast. A neutral site game can give you the east and even Texas/Oklahoma. If you get rid of all of the B1G rivalries, you basically remove all annual Midwest games that aren't played at home. Keeping Purdue is very important because it keeps an in-state rival to help bolster area recruiting. I know that ND recruits itself many times, but many kids that want to play in the ACC or out west would be better served by just going somewhere in the conference. To truly continue to be "National", ND should play Nationally, not just out west and down south, when away from Notre Dame Stadium. What are your thoughts on this idea? I can't find many that agree with my stance, but I truly see the Purdue rivalry as one very rich in history and necessary for the future. It gets the nod over MSU because of the fact that it is in-state, which holds its own importance.

Matt Fortuna: Jason, I think there will be some kind of scheduling cycle with all of the Big Ten rivalries that Notre Dame has, so I'm not sure the Boilermakers would be just wiped off the schedule for good. As for recruiting? I really don't think playing two hours down the road does much for the Irish. They're pretty well-known in the Midwest regardless. None of those Big Ten rivalries, in Notre Dame's eyes, are as important as the tradition that a Navy game has every year, or as valuable as getting West every year at USC and/or Stanford.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- On Thursday, Notre Dame launched its Take a StaND campaign, an initiative geared toward getting the crowd more involved in the game. Coach Brian Kelly had his team practice inside Notre Dame Stadium that day in order to take away some of the awe factor that comes with entering a building just seven times a year.

Music was piped in throughout Saturday's home opener against Purdue, with Irish defensive players regularly imploring the crowd to add to the noise on key third-down plays. Then, at the 2:12 mark in the fourth quarter of a tied game, the stadium's public address announcer offered a familiar phrase:

"Tommy Rees now at quarterback for Notre Dame."

Either out of disgust with another possible quarterback controversy or frustration from seeing a man who turned the ball over 19 times last year enter the game on its most crucial drive, a number of fans from the student section started booing the former starting signal-caller.

Whether Rees can ever regain his No. 1 throne remains to be seen, but he made as strong a case as he possibly could in his return from suspension, directing Notre Dame on a 12-play, 55-yard drive in just over two minutes, setting up Kyle Brindza for a 27-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining to beat Purdue 20-17.

"The story finishes with Tommy Rees coming in for [Everett] Golson and leading us on a two-minute drive to win the game," Kelly said. "I'm good to go. A good day for Notre Dame football."

But, Kelly said, the Irish do not have a quarterback controversy.

"Everett Golson is our starter," the third-year Irish coach said. "He will start against Michigan State. But we know that we've got assets at that position with Andrew Hendrix and Tommy Rees."

Maybe even better ones than they thought. Rees entered 2012 as the only one of the team's four scholarship quarterbacks with any starting experience, going 12-4 the past two years. He severely handicapped his chances at remaining the starter when he was arrested this spring at an off-campus party, forcing him to watch last week's tilt in Dublin from home.

But when Notre Dame needed someone to engineer a scoring drive after Purdue converted a fourth-down scoring chance to even things up, the Irish turned to their veteran.

Golson, who was given much more freedom in career start No. 2, was having a strong game before his final drive, completing 21 of 31 passes for 289 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. He was sacked five times and hit countless others, bouncing back each time. But on what would be his last play of the game, the redshirt freshman had the ball pried loose by Purdue's Josh Johnson, setting the Boilermakers up at the Irish 15 with less than four minutes to go.

Kelly said Golson had trouble gripping the ball and probably could have played, but the coach felt more comfortable with the experienced Rees in the two-minute drill, a move few saw coming.

With zero timeouts at his disposal, Rees tossed three completions for 35 yards, including a huge 10-yard strike to John Goodman on third-and-6. He took the Irish to the 8, spiking it twice and taking a knee before setting up Brindza's game-winning kick.

Coaches and players raved about Rees' demeanor throughout camp, the aspiring coach doing everything he can to help his competitors while knowing his opportunity was dwindling. Rees backed up those claims Saturday, absorbing the boos from his fellow students after entering and some more after his first misfire.

Rees, along with everyone other than Zack Martin and Manti Te'o, was not made available to speak after the game.

"I don't agree with that at all," Martin said of the booing. "A guy like Tommy, it just fuels his fire. He's been through a lot. I'm so proud of him and so happy for him that he was able to answer the bell today and lead us down the field."

"Everett didn't get, like, booted from the game," Martin later added. "He played a great game. I think it was just situation, two-minute drill. Tommy's more of a pocket passer. So I think it's kind of one of those things. Everyone has a 100 percent confidence in Everett and what he does on the field. We're ready to go with him next week."

So here come the Irish, riding a 2-0 start for the first time in four years, marching into East Lansing with a chance to pull off their first upset. Michigan State has a defensive line every bit as lethal as Purdue's, and all the Boilermakers did was hold the Irish to 52 rushing yards one week after Notre Dame racked up 293 against Navy.

And here comes Golson, whose last play under center was his worst, going into his third game still holding the title of starting quarterback.

The competition gets tougher from Week 3 on, but the drama may already be ahead of schedule for the Irish.

The Everett Golson era got off to a great start Saturday for Notre Dame, which dominated Navy in a 50-10 season-opening win at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Golson completed 12 of 18 passes for 144 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Let's take a closer look at how it happened:

It was over when: Theo Riddick rushed for an 11-yard touchdown to cap an 11-play, 75-yard drive over 5:48. Nick Tausch's missed extra point was the only flaw for the Irish, who, unlike last season, completed a stellar opening drive and established their dominance early.

Game ball goes to: Starting in place of suspended Cierre Wood, Riddick rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries, adding two catches for 25 yards. George Atkinson III added 99 yards and two TDs on just nine carries.

Stat of the game: Notre Dame outrushing Navy 293 to 149 certainly stands out, but the Midshipmen throwing for 192 might be more surprising, given the history of their ground game.

Unsung hero of the game: Stephon Tuitt had a sack and, in the play of the game, returned a Trey Miller fumble 77 yards. No one came within sight of the 303-pound defensive end, who made it 27-0 in the second quarter. Manti Te'o added a fumble recovery and an interception, both of which, surprisingly enough, were firsts for the senior linebacker.

Second-guessing: Golson will want back a second-quarter telegraphed throw to Tyler Eifert, which was picked off at the 4 by Parrish Gaines. It brought back bad red zone memories from a year ago. Still, better to get such gaffes out of the way early in a blowout.

What it means: Notre Dame couldn't ask for much more, as it took care of business and eliminated any doubt early. Golson looked good in his debut despite the interception. The Irish absolutely dominated in the trenches, and everyone got involved: From Dan McCarthy (fumble recovery) to Robby Toma (9-yard touchdown rush). Big questions remain at cornerback, with KeiVarae Russell at times looking like the true freshman he is, but it will be an enjoyable flight back to the States for Notre Dame.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Brian Kelly has an idea who Notre Dame's starting quarterback will be Sept. 1 against Navy. Twenty-nine days before the opener in Dublin, Ireland, and one day before his team opens fall practice for the 2012 season, the Irish head coach knows little more than that.

"I don't want to make this more than it is. I have not decided," Kelly said at a Friday news conference, one day after saying on a local radio station, WSBT-AM, that he has an idea in mind of who will open the season under center. "The question was asked, do you have an idea? I've got an idea, but an idea is all I have. It's not like it's this guy and we are set for it, or I would be less than honest in answering the question relative to reps.

"I've got an idea, but we have to see how this plays out. We have to rep these guys, we have to give them a lot of work, a lot of situations. We'll be doing a lot more 11-on-11 where we have to put our players, in particular the quarterback, in as many situations that put 11 players out on the field at one time. Half line, 7-on-7, inside drill, all great drills, don't get the quarterback to the level that we need to. So a lot more 11-on-11 reps for this football team to help us answer that question."

Kelly named last year's Week 1 starter, Dayne Crist, during the first week of classes, less than two weeks before the season opener. He said that there is currently no announcement date in mind, as it will take several practices for the quarterbacks to get enough repetitions for separation.

Asked if he could play two quarterbacks in the opener, Kelly replied that every scenario remains in play.

"I don't know that we've taken anything off the table relative to the quarterback position," he said. "Ideally, I'm like everybody else in this room -- I'd like to have one quarterback and have him be the guy. But we won't know until we get out there and put the pads on and get live action and see how these guys react to those scenarios and situations."

The only clarity at the position heading into camp is that Tommy Rees, the only of the Irish's four signal-callers with starting experience, will be left behind for the opener as he and linebacker Carlo Calabrese deal with the fallout of their spring arrests at an off-campus party.

Kelly, who said he deals with discipline on a case-by-case basis, will try to strike a balance this month between finding a Week 1 starter -- either Andrew Hendrix, Everett Golson or Gunner Kiel -- and a full-time first-teamer.

"Again, I think early on we've got to be able to see three quarterbacks," Kelly said. "And as we move closer to finding if there is a separation, then we'll start to separate the reps. But we don't go into practice once saying, 'OK, he's getting 80 percent, he's getting 20, or he's getting 70/30.' We're not at that point.

"So it's going to take some time for us to figure that out in terms of who is going to get those reps, and it's probably going to take us a little time. But ultimately we want to be able to give the quarterback, you know, for Navy, a lot of reps leading into the game. So where we start is, we've got to be able to evaluate them based upon what they did this summer, and then start to close in on what that pecking order is. So I don't know the exact date, but we'll know it when we see it."

And if the first career start for Notre Dame's next quarterback goes smoothly, all the better.

"If he plays well against Navy," Kelly said when asked if he wants the first starter to be the season starter. "If we get the guy and he starts against Navy and he doesn't play very well, I don't want him to start next week, nor do you. But I would like, like everybody else, to prepare somebody and have a great game against Navy and then make it a difficult decision what you do in week two."

Following consecutive 8-5 campaigns, Notre Dame entered this spring with a re-shuffled staff, a wide-open quarterback competition and arguably one of the nation's best defensive lines.

So, uh, about those three new assistants ...

"I love the energy out there, I love what I'm hearing in terms of teaching," head coach Brian Kelly said April 4, roughly halfway through the spring. "Guys are teaching and I can hear it. So for me it's exactly what I need to hear from our coaches. There's a lot of teaching going on, there's a lot of energy. So for me I feel really good about going out to practice, and what I hear I really like."

Nine days after that comment, defensive end Aaron Lynch announced his decision to transfer, eventually ending up with Notre Dame alum Skip Holtz at South Florida. A series of cryptic Twitter posts by nose guard Louis Nix in the days after Lynch's departure unsettled an already-uneasy fan base, and Nix's admittedly honest public comments afterward about having missed his Florida home did little to quell Irish fans' worst fears.

Then came the spring game, Everett Golson's coming-out party. The rising sophomore quarterback completed 11 of 15 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns, adding 25 yards on six rushes. Most importantly, he was the only of the four quarterbacks to not turn the ball over.

If that wasn't enough for Golson to improve his chances of starting in 2012 -- Kelly said afterward that he had trouble getting plays in on time -- the events of May 3 certainly did.

Tommy Rees, the only of the four signal-callers with starting experience, was charged with four misdemeanors as a result of his arrest at an off-campus house party. Police said that they had to use pepper spray to subdue Rees, who faces two counts of resisting law enforcement, in addition to minor consumption and battery.

So begins an offseason whose storyline, like last year's with Michael Floyd, will be dominated by an off-field run-in by a big-name player. Rees is due in court May 17, but his status with the Irish remains up in the air. Discipline of any kind -- even an offseason suspension -- would strongly diminish his hopes of taking the first snap Sept. 1 in Dublin, Ireland.

Kelly said after the spring game that the guy to emerge as the starter will be the one who commits to all the details in the summer. Golson and Andrew Hendrix — in addition to early enrollee Gunner Kiel — would be in much better positions to do that should Rees be dealt a ban. Regardless, leadership issue becomes an obvious question in light of the arrest.

Whoever does start should have plenty to work with in proven playmakers like Cierre Wood, Theo Riddick and Tyler Eifert. He will also be protected by an experienced offensive line, which returns four players with starting experience.

Linebacker Manti Te'o, who passed up NFL millions this offseason, returns to lead a defense that should still be strong enough up front, though a depleted cornerback corp could have benefited from playing behind an elite pass-rusher like Lynch.

A season that begins overseas is still four months away, but the drama attached to the hip of the nation's most polarizing program has only increased with spring ball in the rearview mirror.