Why Jameis Winston's latest off-field pressure won't affect him against Notre Dame (provided he plays)

Let’s recap everything that fell upon Jameis Winston in the last week, despite that no matter how long this list gets, it probably isn’t going to bother him a bit in Saturday's clash against fifth-ranked Notre Dame.

• Was informed that he will face a Florida State disciplinary hearing on up to four charges stemming from an alleged sexual assault of a female student in December 2012. Winston will, at some point this week, schedule an information hearing where the process will be explained to him. The disciplinary hearing will follow another day fairly soon.

That the disciplinary hearing was coming was not a surprise. Last month an attorney advising Winston announced in a letter to FSU that the quarterback would cooperate with the process. The only unexpected development is that three people not directly related to FSU will make the decision.

Still, even if Winston is 100 percent innocent, being pulled into the disciplinary process can be unnerving. Winston has reason to be confident after state prosecutors failed to charge him with any crime (a very low legal standard) in 2013. The actual hearing will hold to a higher standard.

Seminole head coach Jimbo Fisher expressed “100 percent” confidence Winston will be cleared, but acknowledged the stress of being presumed guilty that comes from so many investigations.

“The facts of the case," Fisher said Monday of the reason for his confidence. "Read the reports. Read what's there. The facts are the facts…

“This country is based on being innocent until proven guilty,” Fisher continued. “Not guilty until proven innocent. There are two sides to that … there is no victim because there was no crime. We're convicting a guy over things that are not true, based on evidence."

• Received outside legal advice via a Sports Illustrated story wondering whether Winston would be advised to drop out of school rather than go through the disciplinary process. By taking part in a hearing and answering questions directly, Winston exposes himself to law enforcement and civil attorneys.

Willie Meggs, the local state’s attorney, declined to charge Winston with any crimes involving the alleged assault last year, but the possibility of doing so remains. Since there was no trial, there is no double jeopardy here.

Additional information, perhaps even an item Winston might view as innocent or unimportant, could be the tipping point, raising the stakes on the FSU hearing. Meggs cited poor police work leaving him with few facts as a reason to not charge. Generally, when a person is accused but not charged with a crime, the best advice is to remain silent. By dropping out of school – a radical and unlikely move, no doubt – Winston would no longer be under FSU’s purview.

• Dealt with multiple, lengthy investigative reports over the weekend in which the failure to charge Winston, and the bungled Tallahassee Police Department investigation into the case that aided that decision, played a center role in raking local law enforcement and the school itself over the coals.

The general takeaway from a front-page Sunday New York Times story and a Fox Sports report is of police and local officials protecting not just Winston but all of Florida State football.

“I think that's exactly the opposite,” Fisher said.

Again, Winston may be completely innocent and this wouldn’t be his problem even if a bias to go easy on Seminole players exists. He’s not a cop, school official or prosecutor. If he’s innocent, then all of their failures have only made him look bad, unfairly losing the benefit of the doubt from many.

And now the spotlight could so politically charge the atmosphere that it becomes more likely that Winston gets charged… for something. These would seem like nerve-wracking developments to consider.

• Saw his name dragged into the signing scandal of Georgia running back Todd Gurley, who is suspended indefinitely during an NCAA investigation into whether he was paid by memorabilia dealers to autograph items.

Winston is reportedly tied to the same autograph authenticator, with plenty of items bearing his autograph for sale online. There is no charge that he did anything against NCAA rules however and his coach seemed to shrug it off. “Kids sign things all the time," Jimbo Fisher told reporters Saturday. "So what do you want them to do – stop signing stuff?"

All true, but it can’t be fun to get linked to this either, let alone wonder if NCAA investigators will take the possibility of the case a lot more seriously than Fisher. Winston is, obviously, a big target and suspensions during an investigation can occur even if the player is eventually cleared of wrongdoing. Who knows what the NCAA will or won't do?

As a reminder, all of this was just in the last week (since Friday even) and doesn’t include the laundry list of previous incidents (some alleged, some acknowledged) that range from ridiculous to boorish to potentially criminal.

Yet with all of that hanging over his head, Winton did one other thing last week – he went 30-for-36 passing for 317 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, while leading FSU to a 38-20 victory at Syracuse.

No. 2 FSU's home game against Notre Dame looks on paper to be the last realistic threat to a second consecutive undefeated season under Winston. A victory would give the Seminoles an inside track on a spot in the playoffs.

The Fighting Irish better not be counting on off-field pressure getting to the Heisman winner.

Say this much for Jameis Winston, the guy shrugs off pressure like almost no one else. It doesn’t matter what is being said about him, he carries himself with the same carefree, competitive manner, tearing up opponents no matter what.

"It's not about distractions – it's about playing Florida State football," Winston told reporters after the Syracuse victory. "It's about going out there every day in practice, doing our school work, making sure we're being a great student-athlete …

“And like I said, being on the field, it's a sanctuary. You get between those lines, all the cameras are on you, and we're out there playing football."

In three games last season between word breaking that the local state’s attorney was looking into prosecuting Winston for the alleged sexual assault and the eventual announcement that he wouldn’t, Winston led FSU to a 3-0 record and averaged 276.3 yards passing with a 67.5 percent completion rate (both in line with non-investigation stats of 66.8 completion percentage, 293.3 yards per game). He also threw nine touchdowns against a single interception and wrapped up the Heisman.

That came when he was facing a possible felony that carried a maximum 15-year prison sentence.

Of course, that’s the Winston we know, both supremely confident and, at times, incredibly unaware, which explains some of his smaller, completely avoidable foibles. On the field, though, it's all business.

"He can put things away like a man does, compartmentalize things, take care of his teammates, take care of his family and take care of everyone because he's very mature," Fisher said Monday. "And the reason he can do that is he knows the facts."

More facts may still come to light, but in a week of so many questions for Jameis Winston, here’s one concrete answer: if he can get to Saturday night, then he will be ready to play Saturday night.

Maybe Notre Dame can stop him, but the pressure sure won’t.