University of Washington football coach Rick Neuheisel said Sunday that coaching next season at Notre Dame is not an option for himself, and that coaching his Huskies in the Holiday Bowl later this week is his primary concern right now.

Neuheisel, speaking to reporters in San Diego where he's preparing to meet Texas on Friday, said, "Notre Dame is not an option."

	Rick Neuheisel is preparing his Huskies to face Texas in the Holiday Bowl.

Neuheisel also said, "While Notre Dame is a great university and certainly a very prestigious job for who ever would take it, it's not the job I'm looking for. I'm happy as I can be at Washington."

He also added that there were "no negotiations taking place" with Notre Dame.

On Saturday, ESPN.com's Len Pasquarelli reported that Neuheisel had risen to the top of the Notre Dame wish list, according to several sources with knowledge of the school's ongoing search.

"While Notre Dame is a great university and certainly a very prestigious job for who ever would take it, it's not the job I'm looking for," Neuheisel said Sunday.

The sources told ESPN.com that university officials are working on the parameters of a contract offer, one that could be worth as much as $2.5 million annually, and that it could be presented to Neuheisel early next week.

Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White said on his radio show Sunday night that he has not offered the job to anyone since O'Leary resigned Dec. 14.

"It seems like everybody we talk with or if we talk about somebody ... automatically they assume they were offered the position. To this point, one person has been offered the job and he was with us for five days," White said.

White said the university had a good idea of who it wanted to talk to during its first search. He said the second search is quite different.

"It's reacting to a landscape that's spinning. It's spinning largely because of the position we find ourselves in based on the five-day tenure and everything that came with that, of which I'm responsible for," he said. "We were much more deliberate, much more measured and we had a pretty good sense of the landscape in phase one. In phase two, we're kind of back to the early phases of this thing and taking a good hard look at all aspects."

White said he has no timetable for naming a new coach.

Washington State's Mike Price, 55, was mentioned Sunday as the likely "next candidate" in an article on the Web site www.blueandgold.com by the editor of Blue & Gold Illustrated, a weekly newsletter devoted to Notre Dame athletics.

The article quoted "sources" as saying a Notre Dame corporate jet was in Seattle and that a university representative had gone to talk to Price.

"I haven't been contacted," Price told The Seattle Times from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where the Cougars are preparing for the Sun Bowl against Purdue on Dec. 31 in El Paso, Texas.

"It's flattering," Price said, "but I certainly expect to be coaching the Cougars in the Sun Bowl."

Price said he would be willing to talk to White if White contacts him.

"I think anybody would visit with Kevin," Price said.

According to the Seattle Times, Neuheisel's salary this season is $1.212 million, and a buyout of his contract would cost only $100,000.

"There are no negotiations taking place," Neuheisel said Sunday. "I want to be clear, I'm very, very content in Seattle."

Neuheisel, however, was vague when asked if he had been contacted by Notre Dame.

"It's not important," he said. "What's important is that I'm staying at Washington."

Neuheisel's father, Dick Neuheisel, told The Associated Press earlier Sunday: "My belief is he'll stay at Washington."

The elder Neuheisel then added: "I have a talented son. I can see him in most any position in the country. With him, nothing shocks me."

Contacted Saturday night by The News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash., UW athletics director Barbara Hedges said, "It is simply not true, and ESPN can say that and anyone else can say that. It's just not true."

"They're going to get a great coach, it's just not going to be Rick Neuheisel," Neuheisel told the San Diego Union-Tribune on Friday night after the Huskies landed in California to begin Holiday Bowl preparations.

"I have nothing pending with Notre Dame. It's a great job, but I have a great job. It's important everyone understand I am staying at Washington. ... That is my intention, to stay at Washington."

"I think Rick is happy at Washington and it would be a surprise to me if he leaves," Dick Neuheisel, speaking from his home in Tempe, Ariz., told The Associated Press. "But nothing is out of the realm of possibility. Notre Dame is probably the pinnacle of college football."

Hedges told The News Tribune on Friday that she had been asked for permission by Notre Dame athletics director Kevin White to talk to Neuheisel. It is standard protocol in college football for an athletic director to receive permission from another school's athletic director before talking to that school's coach.

Asked directly if White had contacted her about talking to Neuheisel, Hedges was quoted as saying, "I can't confirm it. You are going to have to ask Notre Dame."

John Heisler, associate athletic director at Notre Dame, said the school would have no comment on any reports "until we're ready to name a new coach."

Neuheisel, 40, has a 58-23 career record as a head coach at the University of Colorado (1995-98) and Washington (1999-present). His team was 8-3 this season and the Huskies will face Texas in the Holiday Bowl on Dec. 28. In three seasons as the Huskies coach, Neuheisel is 25-9.

One of the youngest head coaches of a major college program, Neuheisel is noted for his high-scoring offenses, a pro-style attack, and the development of quarterbacks. He played quarterback at UCLA, spent two seasons with San Antonio of the USFL (1984-85) and logged five games in the NFL in 1987, with San Diego and Tampa Bay.

Notre Dame turned its primary attention to Neuheisel after school officials became convinced they will not be able to lure a current NFL coach to South Bend, Ind. At various junctures of the Irish search, athletic department officials have gauged the interest of Jon Gruden (Oakland Raiders), Steve Mariucci (San Francisco 49ers) and Mike Shanahan (Denver Broncos).

Ironically, the one NFL head coach who almost certainly would have listened to Notre Dame, Tom Coughlin of Jacksonville, was never contacted. Despite rumors to the contrary, both Mariucci and Shanahan reiterated over the weekend they are not candidates for the job. The university even contacted former NFL coach Bill Parcells, through intermediaries, to assess his interest in the job, ESPN.com has learned, but was rebuffed.

Neuheisel began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater in 1986 and then earned a spot as a full-time aide from 1988-93. Among the quarterbacks he tutored at UCLA was Troy Aikman. Neuheisel moved to Colorado as an assistant in 1994, then was promoted to head coach in '95.

In his seven seasons as a head coach, Neuheisel, who also owns a law degree, has posted 10-victory campaigns three times.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.