A VERY BRADY STORY NOTRE DAME QB QUINN WANTS TO BE REMEMBERED FOR MORE THAN NUMBERS.

Byline: JILL PAINTER Staff Writer

Brady Quinn already set Notre Dame's career passing record last year. He was fourth in the Heisman Trophy race, an NFL prospect and coveted poster boy.

There was seemingly nothing left for Quinn to prove this season -- other than winning a national championship, of course. What the quarterback has done, however, is become an even better quarterback. He's the most prolific quarterback in Notre Dame history.

With just 30 more passing yards against UCLA on Saturday, Quinn will become the 32nd quarterback in Division I-A history to reach 10,000career passing yards. It's a small fraternity.

Yet when his career in South Bend ends, Quinn wants to be known more for intangible characteristics that won't be found in a record book, like his 74 career touchdown passes or 30 Notre Dame passing records he's set.

``Hopefully (I'm known as) a competitor and a good leader,'' Quinn said.

``Those are both things you don't have to be blessed with physically. That says more about you as a person than anything else. It'sthe way you're able to go out there and compete and lead a group of guys, who maybe at times aren't feeling too good about themselves or maybe at times are feeling too good about themselves, allowing yourself to kind of manage the game and be the type of leader this team needs.

``Hopefully those two things are what people take out of this.''

There's plenty of evidence. With Notre Dame (5-1) down 16 points in the fourth quarter against Michigan State, Brady engineered a comeback victory. The Fighting Irish scored three touchdowns in a five-minute span to win 40-37. Quinn threw for 319 yards, five touchdowns and one interception in that win.

The week before, Quinn had one of the worst games of his career. He was intercepted three times and fumbled once in a 47-21 loss to Michigan.

Back-to-back losses aren't acceptable at Notre Dame.

``I know he was disappointed, just like the rest of our team,'' Notre Dame safety Tom Zbikowski said of the loss. ``But he bounced back pretty well with five touchdowns the next week. It really didn't affect him too much.''

Defenses don't seem to bother him much, either. Last year, Quinn threw for 3,919 yards and 32 touchdowns. He threw for six touchdown passes against BYU.

Quinn is a master at spreading the ball around. He's thrown to nine receivers this season, completing 148 of 233 passes for 1,634yards and 16 touchdowns and four interceptions with a completion percentage of 63.2.

``He's a talented, talented quarterback that runs the offense very well,'' UCLA coach Karl Dorrell said. ``He knows how to get it to a lot of his receivers. He's going to be a very strong challenge for our defense. He makes plays. He's been down in games and comes back with big wins and he's started games big and been up easily.''

Quinn, 6-foot-4, 227 pounds, is freakishly strong. He can bench 350 pounds and squat 475. He has an interesting pre-game routine that includes shaving his arms and legs.

But he does his best work on the field.

UCLA, which has the ninth- ranked defense in the country, allows 252 yards per game. Quinn alone averages 272.3 passing yards per game.

``His intelligence, his wit and his ability to think like (Irish coach) Charlie Weis on the field,'' UCLA cornerback Rodney Van said of the biggest concern with Quinn. ``He's able to get himself in and out of offensive calls, checks and audibles that sllow his offense to make plays. He can get players in and out doing things they need to do.''

Quinn, who turns 22 next week, has also proved that Jimmy Clausen will have much to live up to -- not that the country's most hyped high school quarterback didn't already -- when the Oaks Christian recruit steps on the South Bend campus in December.

``If I play, it'll be fun to try to reach some of those records, but I'll be competing with three other quarterbacks,'' Clausen said. ``Right now, I'm thinking about Oak Park this week.''

Clausen met Quinn briefly. He said he's impressed with all the success Quinn's had and hopes to emulate that.

As for Quinn's advice?

``He just said I'll be in good hands with Coach Weis and to listen to him, because he really knows what he's doing,'' Clausen said.

Weis, an offensive guru, certainly has clicked with Quinn, who was recruited by former Irish coach Tyrone Willingham.

``We've given him a lot more responsibility (this year),'' Weis said of Quinn. ``What happens after you go one time through the gamut is that everyone thinks they can start settling in on the strengths and weaknesses both of your offense and the player himself.

``What we've been able to do actually he's just really coming to come into his own for this year, is give him some more responsibility that's allowed us to get out of some bad situations. That goes through a little transition when you're doing that, but it bodes well for the second half of the year for us.''

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CAPTION(S):

2 photo, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (Brady Quinn)

(2 -- color) no caption (Heisman trophy)

Box:

HEISMAN TRADITION