California native Jimmy Clausen was asked how he ended up choosing Notre Dame over USC. ?There was a lot of people who kept asking me why are you going to Notre Dame, ?SC?s better," said Claussen. "But I kind of wanted to get away from California and experience something different. You know I?m probably going to go back and live in California once I?m done with college, so just to get away for a few years and try something different is good for me.? Dan Patrick asked Claussen how close he was to choosing USC. ?I was really close. It came down to Notre Dame and ?SC at the end. I felt comfortable with both schools, but Coach Weiss is probably the biggest reason I came to Notre Dame, and like I said, just to get away from California and try something new.?