Shotgun formation for Clausen

His future is now.

"What happens in the spring is what happens,'' Clausen said Monday. "Right now I just have to make the most of this opportunity that's been presented to me."

Clausen knows he'll have quite a task on his hands when he makes his fourth career start in Saturday's Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M.

The Aggies likely will stack defenders near the line to hold UT's run game in check, forcing Clausen to beat them with his brains and his arm.

Clausen doesn't sound intimidated.

"I don't think they'll want to play too much man-to-man with the weapons we have outside at receiver,'' Clausen said. "I just can't turn the ball over. My job is to get the ball into the playmakers' hands and beat Texas A&M.''

Two months ago, Clausen's job was a third-string quarterback, signaling in plays to UT's fab freshman quarterbacks, Erik Ainge and Brent Schaeffer.

But when Schaeffer went down with a broken collarbone against South Carolina on Oct. 30 and Ainge suffered a separated shoulder the following week against Notre Dame, it was Clausen's time to shine.

Having played behind his older brother in high school, former UT quarterback Casey Clausen, Rick knew what it took to stay prepared as a back-up. He played just one year as a starting quarterback in high school.

Even last year, when he was sitting out and running the scout team offense after transferring from LSU, Rick spent hours with Casey in the film room helping him prepare for games.

"I think the adversity I've faced in the past has helped me grow,'' Rick said. "That's where my work ethic comes from.''

Rick said he had to learn to compensate for his physical limitations. He's not as tall nor does he have the arm that both Casey, and his younger brother, California high school phenom Jimmy, posses.

"The only way I was ever able to compete with Casey was to try to work that much harder than him,'' Rick said. "We're a competitive family, but we're all about each other.''

Jim Clausen, the boys' father, said Rick has developed intangibles that neither Casey, nor Jimmy, needed to have to find success.

"Rick sees things faster; he's very, very bright,'' Jim Clausen said. "His biggest asset is he doesn't have to be the star. What he's able to do is bring the best out of people around him.''

Rick did so last summer even though it meant dialing himself out of a chance to be the starting quarterback, taking Schaeffer and Ainge under his wing and tutoring them on the UT offense.

"That's something Rohan Davey and Matt Mauck did for me when I was at LSU,'' said Rick, who transferred after the Tigers ended up with eight quarterbacks on scholarship. "It's about what's best for the team.''

UT coach Phillip Fulmer said that attitude is what has made Clausen such a special player on the team.

"Rick's a great story,'' Fulmer said. "He continued to work hard and continued to improve even though he had very limited reps.

"We're very fortunate to have him in our system and to have him be doing the things he's been able to do.''

There's a touch of irony that Rick will be looking for his best performance in the same Cotton Bowl stadium that Casey saw his biggest failure.

Casey, as a freshman, struggled in a 35-21 loss to Kansas State in his seventh career start.

"Me and Casey take a lot of pride in being able to understand what defenses are doing,'' Rick said. "That was the first time Casey didn't know what a defense was doing and felt helpless. He was baffled.''

Four years later, Rick Clausen has a clear picture of what's going on and knows what to expect.

In fact, Rick has more responsibility in the UT offense than Casey did that day in Dallas.

"Rick is doing more than Casey was then,'' Fulmer said. "We're way beyond where we were with that offense. Rick is a smart guy.

Smart enough to know his future is now.