O'Brien Quarterback Award Marquee Matchup

Marquee Match-up: Washington at Notre Dame
Saturday, Oct. 3 at 12:30 p.m. (PT) on NBC

Washington is on the road again this week with Jake Locker leading the Huskies (2-2) to South Bend as they square off against the Fighting Irish (3-1) and Jimmy Clausen.

Last weekend, the Fighting Irish rallied in the final minute to beat Purdue (24-21) when Clausen threw the game-winning 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyle Rudolph with 24 seconds left. Clausen, a junior, has thrown for 1,122 yards and 10 touchdowns this season and has a quarterback rating of 172.9, which ranks him fourth in the nation.

During a weekly press conference, Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis commented on Locker, "He's a frontline quarterback. He can make the tough throws. All you have to do is see the last drive of the USC game and you know that kid is a play maker."

Locker, previously named O'Brien QB of the Week, leads the Pac-10 in passing with 1,002 yards this season. Despite the Huskies' upset over the University of Southern California, signal-caller Locker looks to help the Huskies rebound from a 34-14 loss to Stanford last weekend.

Fans can now register and vote for any of the 120 FBS quarterbacks online at www.VoteOBrien.org. The Fan Vote counts as 5% during each round of the voting process. The Fan Vote will be combined with the results from the Selection Committee, an elite group of journalists, commentators, broadcasters and former Winners. The 2009 O'Brien Winner will be announced on The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show airing Dec. 10 on ESPN and will be honored at the 33rd Annual Davey O'Brien Awards Dinner held at The Fort Worth Club on Feb. 15, 2010 in Fort Worth, Texas.