Northwestern special teams alive and kicking

Before leaving the interview room Saturday, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald made sure to greet one of the team's unsung heroes.

"Que pasa?" Fitzgerald asked Amado Villarreal as the junior place-kicker walked to the podium.

NU has reacquainted itself with its primary specialists after several troublesome seasons.

Villarreal and freshman punter Stefan Demos have looked strong in the first two games, generating hope that NU's special-teams disasters -- 5 missed field goals against TCU in 2004, 2 onside kicks returned for touchdowns in the 2005 Sun Bowl -- are things of the past.

Villarreal is 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts, converting a career-long 46-yarder in Saturday's 36-31 victory over Nevada. The 5-foot-10 walk-on is perfect (7-for-7) on extra points.

Demos has placed 5 of his 10 punts inside the 20-yard line and blasted 3 touchbacks on kickoffs. The scholarship specialist displayed a variety of kicks Saturday -- low liners, pooch punts -- and induced 3 Nevada fumbles.

Such efforts wouldn't be earth-shattering for most teams, but kicking problems have played a major role in NU losses since 2003.

"Our goal is to be great," Villarreal said. "Whether it be a field goal, punt, kickoff, make the kicks count, hit the target. That's our goal, Stef and I.

"So far, we're doing that, and hopefully we can continue."

Passing grade: After a loss to Penn State that had few bright spots, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis came away most encouraged by the play of freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen.

Despite poor protection from the offensive line, Clausen completed 17 of 32 passes for 144 yards and an interception in his first career start.

Clausen will start Saturday at Michigan, possibly opposing another highly touted freshman QB, Ryan Mallett, who could replace the injured Chad Henne.

"We all knew he had obvious talent, but I think he never got rattled," Weis said of Clausen. "He showed great poise for a first-year guy."

No guarantees: Charlie Weis didn't return fire at Michigan running back Mike Hart, who guaranteed a victory over Notre Dame following Saturday's loss to Oregon.

"If I was watching our games the last two weeks, I might have made the guarantee myself," Weis said. "I'm sure he said it to build confidence in his players. Will I say it to my players? Come on, of course I'll say it to the players."

Inches to go: Northwestern senior linebacker Eddie Simpson left Saturday's game with a left leg injury in the first quarter and didn't return. … Northwestern has scored in 18 consecutive trips to the red zone and not committed a turnover for 10 straight quarters. … NU linebacker Prince Kwateng was credited with his first career sack when Nevada's Nick Graziano intentionally grounded the ball in the third quarter.

NIU injury woes: Northern Illinois (0-2) lost a lot more than a last-minute, 10-point lead Saturday night against Southern Illinois.

Starting tailback Montell Clanton, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL in his left knee, suffered a torn ACL in his right knee and won't play for the rest of the year.

Tim McCarthy, a co-captain and third-year starter at middle linebacker, apparently tore the posterior collateral and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee.

According to NIU spokesperson Donna Turner, McCarthy hasn't yet been declared out for the year but will be lost "at least for a while."

• Lindsey Willhite contributed to this report.