Jimmy Clausen is out for at least three months and needs surgery on the toe he injured at the midway point of the season with Notre Dame.

What was thought to be turf toe is instead a nasty ligament injury and Clausen now needs surgery to repair it. In retrospect, the fact that he was able to battle the injury and play so well is a tribute to his guts.

This could possibly affect his status in the NFL draft. He will not be available to throw until April at the earliest, and NFL scouts will not like the idea of him recovering from an injury before draft day, which falls on April 22.

Clausen has been mooted as a definite first round pick in the draft, with the St. Louis Rams possibly picking him. The Washington Redskins are also in dire need of a quarterback and would likely trade up for Clausen or Oklahoma's Sam Bradford if they got the chance.

Clausen has also chosen agent Gary Wichard to represent him, which removes the last possible chance that he would reconsider and play for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame.Wichard's agency is located not far from Clausen's family home in Southern California.