SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame is still banking on an offensive line renaissance this season, with the return of O-line coach Harry Hiestand for a second tour of duty.

Whether preseason first-team All-American Jarrett Patterson will be a part of that effort in No. 5 ND’s season opener at No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday night is still unclear.

“I would say he’s still questionable,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said via Zoom on Thursday before practice, speaking on the team’s No. 1 option at left offensive guard, who has been dealing with a right foot sprain since Aug. 15.

What’s changed since last week is that the 6-foot-5, 310-pound grad senior has actually practiced this week, per Freeman, though in stretches not in entirety.

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“Got some scout-team reps,” Freeman said. “Did a couple of team reps. We've still got a good amount of time before Saturday evening. And we’ll revisit it.”

Senior Andrew Kristofic, a seven-game starter at left guard last season, has been taking the majority of the first-team reps in Patterson’s absence during the media viewing windows, which concluded last week.

Kristofic was bumped from the starting five by the rise of senior center Zeke Correll, whose surge was so strong, Patterson willingly moved from center to guard to accommodate him. Patterson was a three-year starter at center and considered one of the best nationally — if not the very best — returning at his position before shifting to a new position for the 2022 season.

Three key players who spent a good chunk of training camp on the comeback trail from injuries are all expected to see action Saturday night against the Buckeyes.

That group comprises running back Logan Diggs (labrum tear) and wide receiver Joe Wilkins Jr. (Lisfranc fracture), who recovered ahead of schedule from spring injuries/surgeries and wide receiver Deion Colzie, sidelined for a time with a knee injury sustained during August training camp and still wearing a large brace in practice.

"All three of them will be in a position to play for us and be able to go out there and compete,” Freeman said. “Again, we're not going to put them on the field if we don't think they're ready to help us and they're ready to play a game.

“We feel all three of those guys are ready to help us and ready to go compete on Saturday. So again, there's probably some live reps they missed in camp, but there's no hesitation in my mind and the position coaches’ mind to play those guys."

• Expect to see plenty of Notre Dame starters on special teams Saturday night and beyond, particularly on the coverage units.

“Off the top of my head, I don't have the exact number of starters,” Freeman said. “But that's a point of emphasis for us. And so, we're going to have to put our best players on special teams, and that's because of how important that is to our program.

“We believe that we have to have a superior special teams unit. We have to really, really understand how important that phase of the football game is. Again, I expect to see guys like Bo Bauer and Jordan Botelho, and you'll see Isaiah Foskey on some units. The most dependable players, the players you count on will be on all of our special teams."

Freeman and his coaching staff were at work well past midnight on Wednesday night, toiling at Notre Dame’s future beyond Saturday’s top five showdown in Columbus, Ohio.

Thursday at 12:01 a.m. marked the start of a NCAA contact period that allowed college coaches to make direct contact with high school juniors. Previously they had to do the dance of calling a prospect’s high school coach and asking that coach to have the prospect initiate contact himself.

Notre Dame had a pretty elaborate social media campaign in the hours leading up to midnight ET with a series of videos tweeted out by the ND coaches.

Once it was time, the late night/early morning game plan for the Irish was to contact all six of their 2024 class commitments, who comprise the nation’s No. 1 class in that cycle, as well as top uncommitted targets.

"I think it's mostly just the relationship,” Freeman said of the message he hoped to send about the program. “Being able to really start to build this relationship with the next class of recruits. We understand that it's so important.

“The talent acquisition and the ability to bring in the best players in the country that fit this place is what's going to continue to help us enhance and continue to improve. And so, it's never too early to start building that relationship and that was what last night was about — to start with that next class of starting this relationship."

Strikingly more than predecessor Brian Kelly did in his 12 seasons at ND, Freeman made it a priority to create opportunities in the spring and fall camp for freshmen to prove themselves to climb the depth chart.

The upshot of that may not be as reflective of that philosophy Saturday night in Ohio Stadium as it will be in subsequent weeks.

"I think you’ve got to understand they're still freshmen,” Freeman said. “This is their first collegiate game, and we have to have an understanding.

“Now, a lot of them have earned the trust (from) their coaches and our coaching staff that we can play them. And we will, but we have to, again, understand that this is their first collegiate game and obviously going into a place like Ohio Stadium, and they’ve gotta understand the type of challenge it will be.”

It’s safe to assume that Freeman will have some last-minute words for his team before they take the field against his alma mater on Saturday night.

It’s even safer to assume the more meaningful speeches will have already been delivered long before that moment.

"It's all in the preparation,” Freeman said. “I mean, if you're not motivated Saturday night at 7:30 to play the No. 1, No. 2 team in the country, again, we have bigger issues. But you have to continue to motivate your guys and understand that preparation is the most important key.

“As I tell them all the time, I have to find ways to create this type of environment where the practices are hard, the practices are tough. There's a lot of pressure, because when you get out there in the game and there are 105-, 110,000 fans, that's pressure.

“So, how do we simulate that in practice and motivate them to make sure they give everything they have in practice? I mean, we're human. Not everybody is motivated every single day to go out there and practice.

“And that's our job, as coaches, to motivate these guys and find unique ways to get them motivated during practice. So whichever ways I can use to motivate these guys well and really get the effort and the intention as to what we need to have a great practice, then I'm going to utilize it."

It was more the rule than the exception to see Freeman’s family out on the practice fields during training camp, particularly the four youngest of his six children. Not that they were always paying attention.

"They're a part of who I am. My family is so important to me,” Freeman said of having wife Joanna and the kids be integrated into the run-up to his first season as Notre Dame’s head football coach.

“As I've said previously, it's a blend. There is no balance. I've told you guys that before. There's no balance between work and home. And so, they are a blend of everything I do and they're a part of this football program.

“It's been great for me, because it keeps things in perspective of importance. And family is so important to me, so it's been great to have them here with me."

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