SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Tae Johnson was a summer wild card for Notre Dame football, an athlete so versatile and so breathtakingly gifted, it seemed like a matter of where and not if he’d make some kind of contribution for the Irish as a freshman in 2024.

Until, that is, a preseason foot injury deferred and rerouted that path for a player recruited to play safety at ND but who didn’t really do anything more than dabble at it in his final two high school seasons at Fort Wayne North.

Eight games and two bye weeks into the season, the 6-foot-2, 188-pound Johnson finally exited ND’s weekly injury reports Monday and found his way onto the two-deeps.

At cornerback.

Johnson will be backing up another freshman, Leonard Moore, at the boundary cornerback position when AP 10th-ranked ND (7-1) hosts ACC flop Florida State (1-8) Saturday night at Notre Dame Stadium (7:30 EST, NBC/Peacock).

► Transcript: Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman opens FSU week

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► Notre Dame football depth chart projection for matchup with Florida State

"It's a credit to his skill set,” Irish head coach Marcus Freeman said at his weekly Monday press conference. “He can play multiple positions. Shoot, Tae Johnson could play receiver if he needed him to.

“He's a great athlete. We're just looking at the depth of our corners with some injuries. For this defense right now at this time, that's the role we needed him to be in."

And he’ll do so without burning a redshirt season.

This past summer the NCAA updated its guidelines to allow players to see action in as many as four regular-season games and the entirety of their postseason play and still take a redshirt season, provided they hadn’t done so in a previous season.

That means ND doesn’t have to hold back or make a decision to play Johnson in every game moving forward if the Irish want to. The same holds true of five other uninjured freshmen who have yet to see action this season — linebacker Bodie Kahoun, defensive tackle Cole Mullins, nose guard Sean Sevillano Jr., and wide receivers Cam Williams and Logan Saldate.

Two other freshmen you haven’t played were ruled out for the season because of injuries before it got underway — offensive tackle Styles Prescod and safety Taebron Bennie-Powell.

On the other end of the redshirt spectrum, eight freshmen have exceeded the four-game regular-season limit and thus won’t be redshirting.

That group comprises offensive tackle Anthonie Knapp, running back Aneyas Williams, cornerback Karson Hobbs, safety Kennedy Urlacher, linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, defensive end Bryce Young, vyper end Loghan Thomas and cornerback Leonard Moore.

That leaves seven players who have played between one and three games with a redshirt still in play but not guaranteed: quarterback CJ Carr (1), wide receiver Micah Gilbert (3), running back Kedren Young (3), offensive tackle Guerby Lambert (3), tight end Jack Larsen (1), offensive guard Peter Jones (2) and linebacker Teddy Rezac (3).

“We’ve had those conversations about guys that have played three or four games — do we want to burn his redshirt?” Freeman said. “Here’s guys that haven’t played that we can utilize maybe in a special teams role, or offensive or defensive role.

“There are some freshmen who we said, ‘Hey, put him as a backup on special teams right now in case a starter goes down. Maybe we can get him in the game, because it won’t burn his redshirt.

“All freshmen are available in that realm if they haven’t played, especially in home games where you’re not worried about travel rosters. We have to make sure we can utilize some of those guys.”

• Speaking of freshmen, fourth-string quarterback CJ Carr remains sidelined with an elbow injury that Freeman clarified on Monday won’t need surgery. Nor is it expected to impact his ability to compete this offseason for the starting QB role in 2025.

“He's still returning to be able to throw,” Freeman said. “We'll probably see a progression from him to be able to throw here soon. We've been overly cautious on his return to play. We don't need to rush it. Let's make sure he is 110% healed.

“If he was the starting quarterback this year, you probably would have pushed him a little bit more aggressively. But we want to be smart with making sure he is 110% healed, really rehabbing his elbow to a point where he's better than where he was previously."

• Backup defensive tackle Jason Onye has missed the past three games for “personal reasons” and is expected to miss a fourth Saturday night against Florida State.

In the five games he did see action, Onye collected seven tackles, with 1.5 sacks, two QB hurries, a pass breakup and a blocked kick.

“He's taking some personal time right now to get some things that he needs,” Freeman said. “So, if there’s a chance for him to return, we would love to have him back. But right now, we’ve just got to support Jason, get him the help he needs for Jason.”

• Freeman said he met with some players during the bye week to get a read on what their plans for 2025 might look like. And the Irish head coach confirmed that former starting vyper end Jordan Botelho does plan to take a medical redshirt year and return for a sixth season in 2025.

Botelho was lost for the season on Sept. 14, when he suffered a knee injury against Purdue. At the time he had 12 tackles on the season with a sack and two QB hurries.

For the 11th season since the BCS morphed into the College Football Playoff, the CFP selection committee will issue its own Top 25, with the first set of the 2024 rankings set to be released Tuesday night during ESPN’s rankings reveal show at 7 EST.

For the ninth time in those 11 seasons, Notre Dame is expected to be included. The final set of rankings at the first-ever 12-team field will be announced Dec. 8.

“Yeah, they’re going to look and I’m sure somebody will tell me what we’re ranked,” Freeman said. “I’ll continue to remind them that it’s great, but that has no impact on our future. We’ve got to make sure right now we take care of what’s important.

“Because if we think that the rankings of tomorrow are going to be what the rankings are at the end of the season, then we’re crazy. We’ve got to take care of what we have right in front of us, and that’s this opportunity to prepare for Florida State.”

• Notre Dame sixth-year linebacker Jack Kiser on Monday was named one of three finalists for the Freddie Solomon Community Spirit Award, which recognizes a collegiate football player who has made a significant impact on others’ lives through community service.

The award is named in honor of “Fabulous Freddie” Solomon, a Super Bowl champion with the San Francisco 49ers with a legacy of giving back.

Kiser and sophomore Drayk Bowen are tied for the team lead in tackles this season with 43 each.

Notre Dame has had one winner of the award in its previous 11-year history — defensive end Daelin Hayes in 2020.

• Citadel transfer kicker/punter Eric Goins has been named a finalist for the 2024 Armed Forces Merit Award, which was created to honor an individual and/or a group with a military background and/or involvement that have an impact within the realm of college football.

The 30-year-old Goins transferred to ND earlier this year after serving seven years in the United States Army as an active-duty officer. He has been handling kickoff duties for the Irish since No. 1 option Mitch Jeter went out with a hip injury Oct. 12 during ND’s 49-7 victory over Stanford.

The award was created in 2012, and is coordinated by the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl staff. The winner of the award will be announced next Monday, which is Veterans Day.

• Inside ND Sports was able to confirm through a source that a report of momentum for a home-and-home series with Texas to be scheduled in 2028-29. Nothing has been signed, per the source, but the two sides appear to be nearing an agreement.

The Irish and Longhorns have met 12 times previously, the most recent being a 50-47 ND loss in double-overtime in Austin, Texas, in the 2016 season opener.

Bobby Burton of On Texas Football was first with the news.

• Freeman belatedly announced his players of the game/week for Notre Dame’s 51-14 romp over Navy back on Oct. 26. They were running back Jeremiyah Love (offense), linebacker Jaylen Sneed (defense) and punter James Rendell (special teams). Scout-team honorees were Jake Tafelski (offense) “with a special shoutout to Tyler Buchner,” Jerry Rullo (defense) and Tommy Powlus (special teams).

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