Notre Dame beats Stanford; Swarbrick keeps Charlie Weis

Notre Dame at Stanford's shaped up to be an epic battle. It airs Saturday at 5 PM PST; 8 PM EST on ESPN and has a storyline with more subplots than Gone With The Wind.

In fact that's what Notre Dame Head Coach Charlie Weis will be if The Fighting Irish don't emerge from Stanford Stadium with a win against the Cardinal. Weis' team has lost against UConn and Pittsburgh the weekend before that and are out of the BCS picture. At 6 and 5, a win gives Notre Dame seven victories, which would be a one game improvement over the year before and a shot at a better bowl game.

Charlie Weis and Jimmy Clausen

But beating Stanford would give the Cardinal five losses and the same number as that for Notre Dame. A wild consideration given that just two weeks ago Stanford was in line for the Rose Bowl; Cal's Big Game victory last Saturday ended that possibility.

But Stanford's Jim Harbaugh's already looking at a better contractual future win or lose to Notre Dame; Weis is coaching for his job. In a New York Times interview, Notre Dame Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick made a comment that gave me a clue as to the importance of this game as he was talking about former AD Kevin White...

He (White) is part of a group of athletic directors that I lean on and talk to and spend time with. Bowlsby, Wellman, Kevin, Gene DeFilippo at B.C. We’re schools that deal with similar issues. Jimmy Phillips at Northwestern.

"Bowlsby" is Stanford Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby, who will be in the stadium with Swarbrick Saturday. As often as they talk with each other and with their relationship, I just feel that a Weis win on Bowlsby's turf will save Swarbrick's face and Weis job.

I'm sure Weis knows that, and has already said "I'm ready to play Stanford", which means he's going to coach his butt off. Yeah, I could tell you that Notre Dame's got the perfect offensive approach to beat Stanford, but on defense Notre Dame needs to play tight and close to stop the run and Toby Gerhard to really have a chance. I could say Stanford's playing for an eight-win season and a good bowl game, but really they're playing to save face from being beaten by Cal.

I could say all that, and more. But the bottom line is Charlie Weis' coaching future is on the line and he knows it. Until today it seemed as if the media had all but fired Weis; it's Swarbrick's call. Look for Weis to come out swinging at Stanford. Look for Weis to come away with a win.