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While the Sept. 21 game at Georgia — the consensus No. 3 selection in this year’s national title race, behind Clemson and Alabama — will be a huge determining factor in Notre Dame’s 2019 College Football Playoff aspirations, the Peach State continues to become a factor in the ascent of the Fighting Irish as a program.

Friday’s verbal commitment from four-star Hart County (Ga.) tight end Cane Berrong maintains a recent pattern of inroads made by head coach Brian Kelly’s staff in Georgia. In each of the past two Notre Dame recruiting cycles, Georgia either had the most or tied for the most representation from a state with three apiece.