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Writer's pictureBruce Straughan

Notre Dame’s Performance vs Texas A&M Impresses Recruits

It’s now been almost a week since Marcus Freeman led the Fighting Irish into a hostile environment of over 107,000 screaming fans at Kyle Field and came out victorious against Texas A&M.

Photo by The Irish Tribune


Adrenaline was running through the veins of Irish fans everywhere, and the internet was abuzz for days about the results of the game. Fans' reactions are often predictable and biased (especially non-Notre Dame fans), but I wanted to reach out to the recruits that Notre Dame is currently offering and/or targeting to get their reactions and thoughts on the results of the game. It did not surprise me to see they were just as excited and impressed with the win as everyone in the fan base.



I reached out to several recruits for their reaction to the game, and they were all raving about how locked in the defense was, how hard they fought for the win, and how impressive it was to pull off a win in such a tough environment.


C/O 2026 4-star DE Simote Katoanga, who currently holds an offer from the Irish, was very excited about what he saw from Notre Dame and puts them as a top team in college football after getting a win against an SEC team to start the season.

“It was a great game! It was a physical and defensive game for the most part. Texas A&M has a great team and is a tough environment to play in. For Notre Dame to start the season with an SEC win and playing away puts them as one of the top teams in college football right now. Going to be following them, and can’t wait to watch them live in South Bend.”


C/O 2026 5-star DB Rodney (RJ) Sermons Jr., who also holds an offer from the Irish, was very impressed as a DB with how good Notre Dame’s secondary played.

“I thought the game was great. I play DB, so the secondary and how good they played really stood out to me. It was also good to see them play as a team and execute at such a high level.”

C/O 2026 4-star LB/Edge Cincere Johnson, who also holds an offer from the Irish, was impressed with what he saw and thinks it shows just what type of an organization Marcus Freeman is running at Notre Dame.

“I thought it was an amazing game to the last second. It just shows what type of organization they are to go down to Texas A&M and get the tough win.”

C/O 2026 4-star CB Khary Adams, who also holds an offer from the Irish, said that the game showed him everything Notre Dame says Marcus Freeman and the staff stand on.

“I watched the game, and it just shows me that everything they say, they stood on.”


C/O 2026 4-star LB Thomas Davis Jr. didn’t need many words to describe what he saw, and he was right on the money when he told me that

“The defense was stellar.”

As you can see, the excitement from the win didn’t stop at Notre Dame fans—it also filtered down to the recruits as well. Nothing moves the needle in recruiting quite like a big win on the national stage. For Notre Dame to go down to SEC country and get a win in a hostile environment like that proves to everyone that Notre Dame is turning a corner and what Marcus Freeman is building is special. Just keep winning, and everything will fall into place.


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