Early in his sophomore year, Clement Stokes found himself becoming a recluse.
He began the 1995 season expecting to be Notre Dame’s starting tailback but fell out of favor with Irish coaches and found his playing time dwindling. Stokes became depressed and let it affect his schoolwork.
“I was just pulling the shades and going to sleep,” he said. “I didn’t want to get up and go to class.”
His brother and roommate, Sim, would holler at him to get out of bed. Stokes would respond by saying: “I’m tired.”
By the end of the semester, Stokes was in academic hot water. When Notre Dame officials told him not to return for the spring semester, he didn’t protest.
“I thought the time away would do me good,” Stokes said.
It did. After pulling a 3.2 grade-point average at Nebraska-Omaha, Stokes re-enrolled at Notre Dame. And after being confined to the practice field last season, Stokes finally is showing his promise.
“I haven’t had the Cinderella story that a lot of people have,” Stokes said. “But I stuck with it, I believed in myself and I’m glad I’m getting the opportunity to show what I can do now.”
Stokes is on a roll heading into Saturday’s game against 21st-ranked West Virginia. He has rushed for 310 yards and averaged 5.3 yards a carry in the last five games while sharing time at tailback with Autry Denson.
“I love watching Clement run,” Irish quarterback Ron Powlus said. “He’s such a driving force. Autry’s pretty (to watch) and Clement’s tough.”
He’s also fought through tough times. After being demoted during the 1995 season, Stokes wondered if he had picked wisely following an All-American career at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington.
Nebraska wanted him. Syracuse offered him No. 44, which had been worn by legendary running backs Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little.
Northwestern also made a major push. Wildcats coaches told Stokes they wanted both him and a tailback from Arizona named Darnell Autry.
“But how can you turn down Notre Dame?” Stokes said. “Even when you come here on your visit, you know you’re not going to have a great time. There’s snow on the ground and they rush you around, taking you from office to office. But I knew even before the visit I wanted to come here.”
What’s more surprising is that Stokes wanted to return to Notre Dame after slipping into the academic abyss. Several other schools wanted him after his semester at Omaha.
“It would have been easy for him to go somewhere else and fade away,” Irish coach Bob Davie said. “If he didn’t have pride he wouldn’t have come back here.”
Stokes was named offensive MVP of the Blue-Gold scrimmage last spring. But he faced another challenge early this season, when he was unseated as backup tailback by freshman Tony Driver. Instead of folding, Stokes worked his way back, excelling on special teams. Now he has returned to the backfield, and hopes Notre Dame will let him use his redshirt year to return for a fifth season.
“Going away for a while heightened my appreciation for Notre Dame,” Stokes said.
