South Bend, Ind. ? Notre Dame might release Demetrius Jones from his scholarship, after all, as long as the sophomore quarterback transfers to a school that is not on the Irish football schedule.

Jones, who started the season opener, quit the team last week and enrolled at Northern Illinois.

On Wednesday, athletic director Kevin White said Jones wouldn’t be released from his scholarship. In a statement Thursday night, however, White said the university has offered to help Jones find an acceptable school.

“We are helping Demetrius compile a list of prospective schools that are not on our immediate future football schedules. We will grant him a release to those schools, and we will assist him in settling at another institution as best we can,” White said.

That list will not include Northern Illinois, however, said John Heisler, Notre Dame’s senior associate AD. Jones still could play for the Huskies next season, but he would have to pay his own way this year.