(AP) Notre Dame will not release quarterback Demetrius Jones from his scholarship this season.

The move doesn't mean that Jones can't play for the Huskies next season, but it does mean he will need to pay his own way at Northern Illinois this year.

"We don't believe his departure was handled appropriately," Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White said in a statement.

John Heisler, Notre Dame's senior associate athletic director, said the school would have no further comment.

Jones, who started at quarterback for Notre Dame in the season-opener against Georgia Tech, surprised coaches when he did not show up for the trip to Michigan on Friday. Instead, he attended Northern Illinois' 21-19 loss to Eastern Michigan Saturday in DeKalb, Ill.

Jones, who lost his starting job after the Irish struggled and he fumbled twice, told reporters that he enrolled at Northern Illinois on Sept. 12, practiced with the Irish the next day and didn't tell the coaches what he had done.

Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis finally spoke to quarterback Jones on Monday night. Weis described it as a "cordial conversation."

"We, I wouldn't say aired it out, but just cleared up what was going on and he said he's moved on. I wished him well and that was about it," Weis said.

Weis said he was not involved in the decision on whether Jones should be released from his scholarship.

"It goes from athletic director to athletic director," Weis said.

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ENJOYING MISERY?: Washington coach Tyrone Willingham said he is not getting any enjoyment out of watching his former Notre Dame team struggle this season.

"Why would one get a kick out of somebody else's misery?" Willingham said when asked about Notre Dame's troubles.

Pressed further about his opinion during the Pac-10 Conference call this week, Willingham said he doesn't get any enjoyment from people comparing his third season at Notre Dame, when he went 6-5 and was fired, and Weis, who is off to an 0-3 start in his third season.

"I'm happy, very comfortable at the University of Washington. I think we're moving our program in the right direction. I'm excited not only about our quarterback, but our entire football team. I'm excited about our coaches, the building process and the university we have, so no, I don't get a kick out of any of those discussions and prefer that they don't exist. Let's focus on helping the University of Washington be great."

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PROS VS. COLLEGE: The biggest difference between coaching pro football and college is time management, Weis said.

In the pros, if practice isn't going the way coaches want they can simply start over — even if the practice is halfway over. Other times coaches might cancel a practice that is going poorly and make the players make up for it the next day by keeping them longer.

Coaches can't do that in college because they have players only four hours each on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and 20 hours for the entire week.

"So you don't get do-overs," he said. "If you don't like the way things are going, four hours is four hours."

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BY THE NUMBERS: Michigan State is tied for the lead in the nation with 17 sacks. Notre Dame has allowed a nation-high 23 sacks. ... Michigan State has won five straight at Notre Dame Stadium. The last time the Irish won at home against the Spartans was a 36-14 win in 1993 while Lou Holtz was coach. ... The past four Michigan State coaches — George Perles, Nick Saban, Bobby Williams and John L. Smith — have all won their first games against Notre Dame.

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GAME TIME: The time for Notre Dame's game Sept. 29 still has not been decided. Networks usually need to decide 12 days in advance, but in some cases need only to decide six days in advance. The game will be played at either noon on ESPN or 3:30 p.m. on ABC. The time will be announced Monday.