With Notre Dame’s first game less than 3 weeks away, we figure it’s time to tell you what we’ve heard out of Fall practice thus far.  Here it goes, position by position:

Quarterback:  Starting QB Jimmy Clausen has continued his progress from last spring and is putting together a nice preseason.  Spectators say that Clausen is lightyears away from where he was at this time last year and his arm is fully healed and has the zip to it that we saw in high school.  Highly-touted freshman Dayne Crist has been adjusting to the college game and Charlie Weis has had to sit him down and explain that he is only a freshman and will continue to learn the system.  The good news is that he is by far the biggest quarterback on the squad and it’s safe to say that he’ll be redshirting this season.

Running Back:  The highly competitive battle for the starting RB position has been a three-way contest for most of the spring and summer but it looks to be a Armando Allen-Robert Hughes battle for now.  Reports say that Allen has seen most of the snaps with the #1 unit, followed by Hughes and junior James Aldridge.  Allen has been impressive in the first few weeks and looks to have a big season this year.  Freshman Jonas Gray might be the most physically impressive of all the freshmen but figures to only see time on special teams.

Wide Receiver:  Projected starter Duval Kamara came into practice a little heavy and was given the #60 jersey until he dropped the weight.  Just a week later, he was sporting his #18 jersey.  Both Kamara and fellow projected starter David Grimes have looked impressive and it seems like the coaches are prepping Kamara for a big season.  Golden Tate has been working into the rotation early and often but still needs to practice his route running.  Freshmen Michael Floyd and Deion Walker have both had their moments and should play early by the looks of things.  Robbie Parris has been sidelined for the better part of a week and fellow junior Richard Jackson has left the program.

Tight End:  If the starting tight end position has been set, not too many people know about it.  Sophomore Mike Ragone and juniors Will Yeatman and Luke Schmidt continue to battle it out and all have looked good.  Yeatman was out for a few practices with a concussion, which freed up some reps for Schmidt and Kyle Rudolph, who has been one of the more impressive newcomers and looks like a special player in the waiting.

Offensive Line:  It looks pretty evident that the Irish have four starting lineman so far in Sam Young (RT), Chris Stewart (RG), Dan Wenger (C), and Eric Olsen (LG).  The left tackle position looks to be a contest between seniors Paul Duncan and Mike Turkovich with Turkovich currently leading that battle.  Freshman Trevor Robinson could be the first guard off the bench and sophomores Taylor Dever and Matt Romine figure to shore up the tackle position.  The reports from the preseason have been positive for the group, but let’s remember they were singing the same praises early last year as well.

Defensive Line:  DL coach Jappy Oliver welcomed back senior Pat Kuntz, who missed spring ball due to academic issues.  He is working himself back into the rotation and most project him as a starter by September 6^th.  Morrice Richardson, John Ryan, Justin Brown and Kerry Neal have been battling it out at the defensive end positions with the early nods going to Richardson and Neal depending on the defensive look.  Junior defensive tackle Paddy Mullen has finally turned some heads and will provide decent back-up to Ian Williams and Kuntz.  Freshmen Ethan Johnson and Kapron Lewis-Moore, who has looked much bigger than previously thought, both figure to see some playing time this fall.

Linebacker:  Linebacker is not set in stone due to the fact that the Irish have been rotating between the 3-4 defense and 4-3 defense, causing many personnel looks.  Three linebackers that look to be the starters against SDSU are senior Maurice Crum and sophomores Brian Smith and Harrison Smith.  Brian Smith has probably looked best among the linebackers and maybe even the entire defense.  He should be fun to watch in the middle of the defense.  Freshmen Steve Filer and Darius Fleming look to be early contributors, with Fleming sometimes playing as a DE.  He will be used as a pass-rusher in all likelihood.

Secondary:  Senior captain David Bruton has looked outstanding this preseason and should have a big year for the Irish.  Terrail Lambert, Raeshon McNeil and Kyle McCarthy have all looked good and have probably locked-down their starting roles.  Freshman RJ Blanton (left) has turned many heads this fall and should play early.  He looks like a gamer.  Look out for junior Sergio Brown to play some as a back-up in 2008 and maybe even occasionally fill in for Harrison Smith at linebacker.

Special Teams:  Not a whole lot to report here, but it seems that junior kicker Ryan Burkhart has finally thrown his name into the ring for starting kicker.  It is a good bet to see him on kickoffs at the very least.  Weis seems confident with his kick and punt returners, but admits that return blocking will need to be improved in 2009.