Related Links: College Football Signing Day Central Complete college football recruiting coverage School-by-school commitments Top 100 recruits ... and where they're going Gimino: Seminoles surge to nation's No. 1 class Dodd: Spartans the toast of Michigan on national signing day Prospect sits out signing day after sexual battery charge Florida is a winner in recruiting wars 2000 Dodd: Buffalo's long, slow climb might gain more momentum Wednesday Dodd: Colorado lands a gem in Denver's Houston Forum: Is this Notre Dame's best class under Davie?
	T O P   N E W S

And then the post-midnight Fruit Loops at the hotel were sumptuous, especially once a friendly hotel worker who recognized the coach found some cartons of milk to go with it.

Ah, recruiting.

The Irish, coming off a 5-7 season, signed a quarterback-heavy class Wednesday, six weeks after the first major NCAA violation in school history and two weeks after a starting linebacker, Joe Ferrer, took off on what he said is a stifling Irish program.

Davie said Ferrer's comments didn't come up once during recruiting. But especially during a time when adult coaches are trying to sweet-talk 17-year-olds into coming aboard, Ferrer's comments provided some clues about what might be ailing the Irish.

Certainly, it was not the kind of stuff a school wants to pop into a VCR during a home visit.

"A lot of guys come to Notre Dame playing with a swagger," said Ferrer, who plans to play as a fifth-year senior at a Division I-AA school. "But that's taken away. There's no room for that on this team. I like to let my personality flow when I play. I'm a wild guy. I like to talk trash, to celebrate. You can't do that at Notre Dame. That's not part of the image."

Another Irish starter, sophomore cornerback Clifford Jefferson, backed up the comments.

"A lot of players have talked about how you're not allowed to do certain things and are supposed to dress a certain way," he said. "For example, certain players like to write messages on their shoes, and I guess the coaches don't want them doing it. But that's part of your personality. When you look at your feet, you can say, 'Man, I look good.' You'd be real happy instead of looking at your feet and seeing they're plain, like you're a robot.

"Pretty much everyone is talking about letting us have our own personality. We're like robots doing everything the same."

The Davie era has included losses in two minor bowls and no bowl last season. But he still has the nation's No. 12 recruiting class, according to SportsLine's rankings. It's still Notre Dame, even if that name might not mean as much as it used to for players who play as much football on a PlayStation as they do in pads.

But at every school, nobody can be sure how the players will turn out.

"At Notre Dame I think it's even more true that you have to wait a little to see what you get," Davie said. "What I've found in my six years here is, it is unique. More than what they look like on tape, more than what you see in those homes. Once they get on this campus, how are they going to fit in?

The Kim Dunbar scandal is just one of the recent maladies of the Irish. Will the new class help the focus turn to good football?(AP)

"The reality here at Notre Dame is that you wear the gold helmet 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Living on this campus and adjusting to the rules of this campus are a big part of it. Just being able to stay in the program ... we'll only know the answer to that in the next several years with these prospects."

In the meantime, there will be no names on the back of the jerseys and, apparently, no cornrows or ponytails.

"We're never going to alter the standard here at Notre Dame," Davie said. "Maybe in some ways Notre Dame is different and Notre Dame is not for everyone. But I didn't overreact to Joey's comments. He and I have spoken since then. I hope his next move works out for him."

Notre Dame's holier-than-thou image will never be the same after revelations of the dalliances various former players had with booster Kim Dunbar, which put the school on probation. But Notre Dame will apparently continue to hold the line against aberrant hairstyles and on-field celebrations.

"We don't really have a hard, fast policy," Davie said of hairstyles. "My policy is, let's do everything in a first-class manner. Let's not draw unnecessary attention to ourselves. It's that simple. Do everything in good taste. You can be yourself. You can express yourself. But don't bring a lot of unnecessary attention on yourself. That's probably the same way I'd handle my son in the same situation."

Eighteen players signed with Notre Dame on Wednesday, including three quarterbacks and another player who will be tested as a quarterback first. A year ago in recruiting season, quarterback C.J. Leak bolted from the Irish at the last minute to go to Wake Forest. The Irish were left without a quarterback recruit, a situation Davie vowed never to let happen again.

"I can't say all 18 are going to be Notre Dame men," Davie said of his class. "How are they going to react to living over here at Dillon Hall for the next four years? What about the rules on this campus? All the pressures that come with playing here, all the expectations with playing here? There are so many things that are going to unfold. I feel good about the guys we have in the program. We're going to start getting some rewards for this."