Tommy Rees

SOUTH BEND -- Last Saturday's 31-17 loss to USC was bad enough. On Tuesday, even more bad news arrived.   Starting defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore will miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury suffered in the USC game. The 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior stands fifth on the Irish in tackles with 26. He has 1.5 sacks and 4 tackles-for-loss.   Stephon Tuitt is listed as the starter with Chase Hounshell listed as his backup. Both are true freshmen.   Kelly's focus Tuesday was on Navy, this week's opponent, although there remained questions about last Saturday's loss.

The recent news that Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly is searching for a third quarterback to add to his recruiting class of 2010 brought to mind two recent instances when ND has signed multiple signal-callers. A few years ago, because of a shortage of quarterbacks on the roster, former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis signed two quarterbacks — Demetrius Jones and Zach Frazer. Years before that, Bob Davie, a year after being stood up at the alter by C.J. Leak, overcompensated in the following recruiting cycle by bringing in four QBs — Abram Elam, Jared Clark, Matt LoVecchio and Carlyle Holiday.

NOTRE DAME -- It wasn't so much that they avoided the trap, as it was that they found a way to wiggle out of it. Notre Dame needed a come-from-behind win to beat BYU because the offense struggled to find a rhythm and the defense wasn't quite as good as usual. But the Irish found a way to improve to 7-0. "We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole in the first half with some uncharacteristic mistakes," Irish coach Brian Kelly said. "But we told them at the half time, you know, this is about how we finish this football game.

SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame starting quarterback Dayne Crist underwent season-ending surgery on his left knee Sunday to repair a torn patellar tendon, Irish head football coach Brian Kelly said. Crist’s recovery time is expected to be six months, which could curtail his activity or even completely wipe out spring practice in 2011. Crist suffered the injury during a 29-yard run, the longest of his career, in the first quarter of Saturday’s 28-27 loss to Tulsa at ND Stadium.

SOUTH BEND -- It was the same Notre Dame as the first two weeks. Except this time, it was different. "I couldn't take it any longer," Irish coach Brian Kelly quipped, regarding all his team's faux pas. More fumbles on kick returns. But a kick-return touchdown. More turnovers by Irish quarterback Tommy Rees. But Notre Dame forced two as well. More shanked punts from Ben Turk. But he also landed one inside the MSU one yard-line.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Notre Dame has a quarterback controversy and coach Brian Kelly figures it might last a while. This Saturday's spring game probably won't clear anything up in the race between Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees. "I would like to have one guy (come out of the game) and say 'he's our guy,'" Kelly said Tuesday. "But there is no way we leave the spring game, unless something dramatic happens, where we say, 'We found our starter.'" Kelly is setting it up so that no particular star emerges.

Editor's note: Notre Dame walk-on quarterback Brian Castello is contributing a daily diary from the Sun Bowl this week. EL PASO, Texas — Greetings from El Paso. Something happened today that rarely happens with coach Kelly's way of doing things — we got to sleep in. After the hectic first day, everyone needed it. Most of us did at least. A handful of the guys went to a local hospital this morning to sign autographs and some other stuff.

NOTRE DAME - Notre Dame football commentator Allen Pinkett will be off the air for another two Irish football games over controversial comments he made during an interview with a Chicago radio station last week. The Notre Dame IMG Radio Network announced Tuesday afternoon Pinkett, who was removed from the Irish opening game vs. Navy, will be suspended without pay for the upcoming games against Purdue and Michigan State. A decision on who will sit in the broadcast booth with play-by-play announcer Don Criqui will be made in the coming days.

NOTRE DAME - Notre Dame football radio analyst Allen Pinkett apologized for comments that he made suggesting that Notre Dame needed "criminals" on the team. "In reviewing my remarks from a radio interview Wednesday, it's clear that I chose my words poorly and that an apology is in order for these inappropriate comments," Pinkett said in a statement. "My words do not reflect the strong pride and passion I have for the Notre Dame football program. "I am deeply sorry and did not intend to take away the focus from the upcoming season opener.

For a long time during the current football recruiting cycle, it looked like Notre Dame's class of 2011 would go without a quarterback. Not anymore. Everett Golson of Myrtle Beach, S.C., picked Notre Dame, after backing out of his longstanding commitment to North Carolina. The 6-foot, 170-pound Golson will enroll at ND in January. It will allow him to participate in spring practice. He also plans to play for Mike Brey's Irish basketball team. Golson committed to North Carolina in February, but when the program got in NCAA hot water over agent-related benefits and academic misconduct, Golson began looking around.