Stumped about my clutch. Help Please...

[Onefast99gsx]

Ok a new clutch sitting on the bench, the fingers of the pressure plate are upwards and about 20degree angle or so. I put the clutch on the other night and when you tighten it down onto the steps of the flywheel the fingers go downward so that it's parallel and flat to the clutch disk.

Ok, so this morning i put a brand new throwout bearing on the clutch fork and put the tranny back in my car and cranked it down. I put the slave cylinder on and this is where i'm stumped. The slave cyl. rod has to be outward as far as it will go before it even touches the clutch fork as if the clutch is engaged. Is this normal when you put a clutch on? Is the clutch in it's engaged state until you start the motor for the first time? Does the motor have to be running to bring those pressure plate fingers back outward or something?

Thanks for any info!!