Clausen toughs it out after toe injury setback

Quarterback Jimmy Clausen suffered a bit of a setback with the turf toe he has played through the last five games. He aggravated his injured right foot in the third quarter of the victory over Washington State.

''My toe was feeling really good going into the Washington State game, and after that play it kind of set me back to a few weeks ago where I was hurting and dealing with the pain,'' said Clausen, who will start Saturday, when the No. 19 Irish (6-2) play Navy (6-3) at Notre Dame Stadium (1:30 p.m., Ch. 5, 890-AM).

''It's all right. It's a little sore right now. I jammed it on that one play when the guy barely clipped my foot and I tripped over myself. But it feels all right. It's going to linger on for the rest of the season. I'm going to have to deal with it. I'm just tolerating the pain right now.''

• Coach Charlie Weis was asked if receiver Golden Tate would have shown such versatility this season had receiver Michael Floyd, who will return Saturday, not missed the last five games because of a broken collarbone.

''You'd have to lean towards no [because] of not having as many opportunities as he's had,'' Weis said of Tate, who also has run the ball out of the Wildcat formation. ''We've had to do a lot of draw-'em-up in the dirt [plays] to put him in situations. And we'll continue to do that. It isn't like, 'Michael's back, let's stop doing what we're doing with Golden.' I think it's important for us as a coaching staff to approach Golden like Michael's not back so that we continue getting Golden involved in every game plan.

''But it certainly will take a lot of pressure off of Golden. Not only will it take pressure off of Jimmy, it will take it off [tight end] Kyle [Rudolph]. Having a guy like that back there, it balances your offense.''

Brian Hanley

ILLINOIS:

Minnesota (5-4, 3-3 Big Ten) might be tougher for Illinois (2-6, 1-5) to defend Saturday (11 a.m., BTN, 560-AM) without star receiver Eric Decker and his 94.8 receiving yards, Illini coach Ron Zook said.

Despite losing Decker to a season-ending foot injury, Gophers quarterback Adam Weber put up a career-high 416 yards and five touchdown against Michigan State.

''How can you lose your best player, and arguably the best player in the league, and still have 500 yards of offense?'' Zook said. ''We knew who they were going to in the other games. Now you don't know where they're going.''

• Zook said he expects several on-the-mend Illini to be good to go against the Gophers. That group includes tight ends Michael Hoomanawanui (ankle) and Hubie Graham (back), safety Donsay Hardeman (neck) and receiver Jarred Fayson (knee), all of whom missed the Michigan game. Receiver A.J. Jenkins (knee) also is probable.

With Hoomanawanui and Graham sidelined against Michigan, senior receiver Jeff Cumberland, a converted tight end, and redshirt freshman London Davis were productive at tight end. Cumberland caught two passes for 51 yards, and Davis, in his first appearance on offense, caught a two-yard touchdown pass.

Herb Gould

NATION:

University of New Mexico president David Schmidly said an attorney representing an assistant football coach sent a letter offering ''continued media silence'' in exchange for a $500,000 settlement in a dispute with head football coach Mike Locksley. Schmidly said the overture was rejected.

''I outright refused it,'' Schmidly said during a news conference. ''I turned the letter over to our legal staff and told them the answer is no.''

Receivers coach J.B. Gerald, who claims he was punched and choked by Locksley, a former Illinois assistant, made his first public comments about the dispute during an interview broadcast last week by ESPN. Schmidly said he ''wouldn't be surprised'' if Gerald files a civil lawsuit against the university.•

AP