Twenty years ago, name recognition in the Heisman Trophy was everything. Now, often it can work against you. Just ask former Irish quarterback Brady Quinn about that one.

Heisman voters love new blood in the discussion. Clausen had a sensational start Saturday. His 303.67 passing-efficiency rating leads the admittedly heavily skewed national stats.

He is also one of four national finalists for something called the “AT&T All-America Player of the Week,” which presumably has more to do with his 315-yard, four-TD day than his cell phone usage. That’s a much more sane discussion at this point of the season than the one with the H-word.

For Clausen, his breakthrough — whether it is Heisman-esque or something more mortal — will have everything to do with how he handles his next brush with adversity.

That is the next step in his evolution. If Clausen navigates it as well as he did the overmatched Nevada secondary Saturday, then he’ll consistently put up the big numbers, but more importantly, find ways to put his team consistently in the win column.

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