Notre Dame has arguably its biggest recruiting weekend of the year when USC comes to town Saturday. Around 30 or so prospects ranked as at least four-star prospects per Rivals are expected in South Bend, Ind. to see the rivalry matchup between the Fighting Irish and Trojans.
In this article, BlueandGold.com takes a look at key storylines and the latest in the recruitments of prospects on the defensive side of the ball slated to visit this weekend.
Key 2022 recruits making return visits
The headliner of the entire weekend is Pleasant Hill (Iowa) Southeast Polk’s Xavier Nwankpa, the nation’s No. 14 player and No. 1 safety per Rivals, making a return visit to Notre Dame.
He was the Irish’s second defensive back offer in the 2022 class back in November of 2019, as head coach Brian Kelly extended the good news while Nwankpa was on campus for the Navy game. The 6-2, 185-pounder took an official to Notre Dame over the summer and is seeing game day atmosphere of his final three schools – Iowa, Notre Dame and Ohio State – this fall.
Nwankpa was at Iowa the weekend of Oct. 9 when the Hawkeyes defeated Penn State 23-20 for his official visit. The five-star recruit will be at Ohio State for an unofficial next weekend for the Buckeyes’ showdown with Penn State.
