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Charlie Weis has become easier to talk to and has been spending more time with the defense and special teams that in past seasons.

What does Plan B at quarterback really look like?
Last season saw two ND quarterbacks transfer, including Game 1 starter Demetrius Jones just prior to Game 3. Freshman Jimmy Clausen, still gimpy from offseason elbow surgery, was pressed into duty way before he was physically ready.

Clausen is the clear starter now, clearly healthy, clearly with a better command of Weis’ voluminous playbook. If all goes according to plan, freshman Dayne Crist will sit, watch and grow without burning a year of eligibility. Walk-on Nate Montana, yes Joe’s son, presumably will get the mop-up minutes.

Weis loves having a senior with experience, Evan Sharpley, as his No. 2. But if Clausen were to miss a long stretch of games, would Crist get a shot to start? Should Crist get a shot at starting?

The Irish suffered in 2007, not because they didn’t have talent or depth at the position, but in large part because Weis didn’t give enough practice reps to the next wave of quarterbacks in 2006, when Brady Quinn was finishing up his brilliant career. He can’t afford to go down that road again. Whether Sharpley can handle starting or not, Crist has to be brought up to speed.

Are special teams really special?
It looks like it in practice. Sophomore Brandon Walker appears to have added a good 10 yards to his field goal range and junior Ryan Burkhart is booming kickoffs routinely 10-15 yards further than he did last year.

But will game pressure shrink their progress?

Meanwhile, Weis has infused himself into the return game, per the advice of Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer, whose Hokie teams are perennially some of the strongest nationally on special teams. And Weis is encouraged by the fleet of returnmen he has assembled, led by sophomore Armando Allen. But he remains more hopeful than convinced that the schematic flaws in the return game have been fixed — until the Irish play a game.

"We have a few returners back there who have some giddy-up," Weis said. "But it doesn't make any difference how much giddy-up you have if, when you're catching the ball, you've got a party in your face."

Is this a team that can handle success?
It seems like an odd question, given the cataclysmic feel of last year’s lost season. And the Irish do need early success if they’re going to distance themselves from that 3-9 thud.

The team psyche, though rebuilt, is still fragile and the negativity so fresh that a loss to, say, Michigan would be seismic. That’s not to say the Irish couldn’t recover and make a run to a bowl game, it would just make it exponentially more difficult.

It’s not just about how the national media would react and about dealing with that perceptual distraction. It’s also about the perception inside the program. It never got to the point last year where the players actually doubted Weis, but some did reach a point of not knowing what to think.

A convincing and strong start to the season pulls everyone off the fence. It also helps Weis evolve into who he wants to be — more of a leader and less of a micromanager.

But if the winning comes early and often, and if the roll continues into October, at some point the script flips. And Weis might be fighting complacency and trying to get his team to maintain its shock-the-world edge.

Fortunately for Weis, this is an area where his experience with the dynastic New England Patriots gives him some valuable expertise that translates to the college level. And he has a track record of it with his first Irish team, the 2005 squad that bullied its way into the national elite that year.

If Weis’ 2008 squad can follow that same path, maybe the coach actually would be in the mood to make lasagna himself next offseason.

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