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North: Louisville's quarterback takes over Heisman race

The random thoughts machine is rolling, so let's get started with some college football talk. …

• Christian McCaffrey, Leonard Fournette and Deshaun Watson plus a few others are all in the running for the Heisman trophy race, but Lamar Jackson from Louisville is the leading candidate right now. Will his talent translate on the next level? No one knows for sure, but he's the man in college football right now.

• Notre Dame is out of the rankings for the first time in the past 20 polling weeks. Apparently they have more than just quarterback problems.

• The Texas Longhorns suffered a tough loss on the road to the California Golden Bears 50-43, and the noise is getting louder for the ouster of head coach Charlie Strong. I think they still need to give him the benefit of the doubt since it's only his second year there, and he did manage to start 2-0 this season.

• I'm sure the Chicago Cubs are going to continue to play hard, but clinching automatically tends to make players relax. Obviously it's better to have clinched as early as they did, and I'll take my chances with this team.

• The White Sox should keep Chris Sale (16-8, 3.05 ERA) and José Quintana (12-10, 3.05 ERA) and build around them. Besides, Sale's contract is so team-friendly that I believe he's here next year.

• The Tiger Woods talk is humorous! I'd love to have him back, but he will only be relevant again when he is playing in the PGA Tour Champions for golfers 50 and older. Of course, he will do that just by showing up there!

• The Minnesota Vikings did it right when they built a dome for their football games. Wouldn't it be nice for the Bears to have something like that, too? I was against a dome back in the day, but a roof lends itself to many more possibilities - concerts, rodeos, the circus, boxing matches, UFC bouts, but not in Chicago unless the weather is good. Not having a dome here is one of the dumbest moves ever! Think about it: just 10 football games and a few meager events during the summer at Soldier Field. Just weak!

• In the past eight weeks of fantasy football dating back to last season, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert has better numbers than Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers.

• I switched the TV channel to hockey and saw Patrick Kane give up the puck as Team USA lost 3-0 to Team Europe in the World Cup of Hockey. Back to football!

Program notes:

Follow me on twitter at @north2north. Listen to Andy Furman and myself Sunday mornings from 5-8 a.m. on Fox Sports radio, iHeart radio on your smartphone or Foxsportsradio.com.

• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.

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