So I'm sitting here in the office sneaking peaks at Notre Dame-Stanford, and I'm seeing the Irish are up 24-20 at halftime against a team which ought to be smoking them like link sausage, and every once in awhile the camera finds athletic director Jack Swarbrick on the sideline, looking like a man whose pucker factor is somewhere well north of the redline.

And I'm thinking this: Maybe, just for fun and to loosen Swarbrick up, it's time to play a little game I call Reasons Charlie Weis Should Stay, Because We've Already Heard All The Reasons He's Gone.

1. Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, Manti T'eo and Michael Floyd. In other words: At least Weis is getting the talent level up. Slower than water wearing away stone, but he's doing it.

2. Two, 5, 3, 4 and 7. These are the margins by which Notre Dame has lost its five games this year. It adds up to 21 points. In other words: At least the Irish aren't getting beat 78-3 anymore by USC.

3. 9-2, 8-3, 7-3, 6-5. These are the won-loss records of four of the five teams that have beaten the Irish. The other is Michigan (5-7). In other words: At least they're not losing to complete and utter chumps.

Conclusion: Weis isn't the worst coach Notre Dame has ever had. He might actually be able to consistently go 9-3 eventually if the Domers kept him around.

Of course, 9-3 isn't going to cut it in South Bend. Charlie himself said so.