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"He was not engaged in a fight. He didn't throw any punches. He didn't directly engage the individual," Swarbrick said. "He just got coldcocked by somebody, and we're very disturbed by that."
A message seeking comment was left Tuesday evening for Swarbrick on his cell phone.
Clausen was at C.J.'s Pub at about 2 a.m. with his family and girlfriend after Notre Dame's double-overtime loss to Connecticut, according to the official.
The group decided to leave after words were exchanged with others at the bar, the official said. As they were leaving, Clausen's girlfriend realized she left her purse behind. Clausen went back to retrieve the purse and someone followed him outside and punched him, the official said. Clausen did not fight back and left, the official said.
South Bend Police Capt. Phil Trent says police were called to the scene after receiving a report of a fight. He says police arrived within minutes and everyone was gone.
An employee at CJ's Pub who asked that his name not be used told ESPN's George Smith that several Notre Dame upperclassmen were with Clausen at the bar Saturday. He said the group included several offensive lineman and other offensive players.
The employee said off-duty South Bend police officers were working at the bar providing security, which is fairly common there.
"If anything had happened inside, we would have handled it," he said. "No one was accosted inside."
A message seeking comment was left on the cell phone of Clausen's father, Jim Sr., by The Associated Press on Tuesday.
Weis poked fun at Clausen during practice on Tuesday, saying his new nickname was "Darth Vader."
Weis announced in August that he would allow Notre Dame players to wear visors for the first time. He said at the time that they could wear only clear visors because he didn't think dark visors would look right at Notre Dame and he didn't want players to have "Darth Vader visors."
"I thought [they] were way too Hollywood for Notre Dame," he said.