NCAA Will Rule on Irish Player This Week : Notre Dame: Official says decision on DuBose will be rushed so school will have time to appeal.

The NCAA’s director of eligibility said Monday that a decision on the status of Demetrius DuBose, the senior Notre Dame linebacker recently declared ineligible by the school for receiving improper benefits, is expected by the end of the week.

“We’re trying to make the decision in a very short time frame,” Janet Justus said. “We do have some pressure here.”

Justus said she wants to have enough time to review the case, as well as allow Notre Dame officials a chance to appeal to the NCAA Eligibility Committee, if necessary, before the season starts.

Notre Dame will open its season Sept. 5 against Northwestern at Soldier Field in Chicago.

DuBose was declared ineligible by school officials after they learned that the president of a Notre Dame alumni group and his wife provided the linebacker with a cash loan and gifts.

The school then asked the NCAA eligibility staff to restore DuBose’s eligibility because his relationship with the couple, Grant and Rose Courtney of Bainbridge Island, Wash., began before he was recruited by Notre Dame.

The Times reported last Friday that Courtney, a Seattle lawyer, is president of the Western Washington Notre Dame Alumni Club, and his wife once worked in the Notre Dame admissions office.

If officials reject Notre Dame’s argument and authorize penalties against the Irish, it would mark the first time ever that the school or one of its athletes has received an NCAA sanction.

The NCAA publicly reprimanded Notre Dame twice--in 1953 and 1971. The first time was for holding illegal tryouts in basketball and football, and the second dealt with improper administration of financial aid for football players.

If Notre Dame officials disagree with the NCAA staff’s decision, they can appeal to the Eligibility Committee, headed by Robert Sweazy of Texas Tech. The committee, made up of five NCAA Division I administrators, would hear the appeal next week by conference call. The athlete in question typically speaks to the committee in such cases, Justus said.

“Trying to get them together is a little bit hard,” Justus said of the committee members, who are spread across the country. “It will happen, if we have (to have a) 10 p.m. call.”

The committee could rule DuBose permanently ineligible, restore DuBose’s eligibility immediately or restore his eligibility with conditions, such as sitting out a number of games. If the school is still dissatisfied, it can appeal to a subcommittee of the NCAA Council, which has final say.

The DuBose case could also lead the NCAA to levy institutional sanctions against Notre Dame. That would be judged separately from the question of the athlete’s eligibility. Such sanctions can range from a reprimand to a ban on postseason competition.

Courtney has declined to discuss the case. But The Times, quoting sources who asked not to be identified, reported that DuBose received a large cash loan and that the player agreed, in a handwritten promissory note, to pay the money back after signing a contract with an NFL team next year.

NCAA rules prohibit representatives of a school’s athletic interests from providing athletes with benefits not available to the student population as a whole.