Jimmy Clausen, the most highly regarded quarterback from California since John Elway, turned down the Trojans to come to South Bend and play for Coach Weis. The 6-foot-3, 207-pounder, 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 and has thrown for 7,234 career yards. Clausen said competition from other quarterbacks wasn’t a factor in his decision. “Honestly, I think it pretty much just came down to coach Weis for me. Any high school quarterback would want to play for coach. There’s something about him. He’s from New Jersey, so he’s got a little swagger to him… I want the #1 recruiting class in the nation. There’s a lot of guys here today and I’m going to try to talk to them…I look forward to doing whatever I can to help us win the national championship.”
ESPN, The Magazine story