A lacrosse player? NFL legacy sons? A RB rotation? Meet the Irish supporting cast

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  Adam RittenbergNov 4, 2026, 09:00 AM ET

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  College football reporter; joined ESPN in 2008. Graduate of Northwestern University.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- CJ Carr's teammates and coaches at Notre Dame talk about him with an air of reverence.

"CJ is definitely elite," wide receiver Jaden Greathouse said.

"Really, really, really smart," wide receivers coach Mike Brown added. "The challenge for us in our room is we've got to match that."

"A lot of our coaches say he's the best quarterback they've been around to get in the right checks and right calls," offensive tackle Guerby Lambert said.

A program like Notre Dame doesn't go 38 years without a national title because of one reason or one position, but quarterback play is certainly a major part of the equation. In Carr, the Irish believe they have the man who can take them to the top. Through eight games, he ranks No. 8 nationally in QBR with 18 touchdown passes, one interception and 66.7% completions. He has 42 touchdowns and only seven interceptions since the start of the 2025 season.

But like any gifted QB, Carr can't do it all on his own.

He will need a supporting cast largely made up of less-decorated players -- some with unusual backgrounds, some young, some returning from injury, some who have simply waited for a chance -- to shine alongside him for Notre Dame to reach the College Football Playoff again and push for its first national title since 1988.

The group around Carr doesn't include a Jeremiah Smith or Malachi Toney type at wide receiver. Carr's top target, Jordan Faison, initially came to Notre Dame to play lacrosse. The Irish are replacing two NFL first-round draft picks at running back with a rotation that possesses talent but lacks experience. The tight end room, which has produced seven NFL draft picks since 2018, doesn't have a player with more than six receptions this season. Other than Carr, most of Notre Dame's headliners play defense, including All-America cornerback Leonard Moore and surging pass rusher Boubacar Traore.

Two questions linger about Notre Dame's offense outside of Carr: Who are these guys? And are they good enough to help the Irish win it all? The answers should come Saturday as No. 4 Notre Dame hosts top-ranked Miami (7:30 p.m. ET, NBC).

"You can see the talent that we have, and that excites anybody," Greathouse said. "Seeing the offensive line do their thing, seeing the running backs finally getting to display what they can do, and seeing all different kinds of receivers able to make plays, it's an exciting thing to see how high this offense can go."

The belief in Notre Dame's entire offense within the program is clear. Still, a major test awaits Saturday against the nation's top team, which is propelled by the nation's No. 1 scoring offense (47.6 ppg). The Irish offense must elevate to keep the team's playoff dreams alive.

A LAX guy playing football

In December 2023, Notre Dame hired Brown from Wisconsin, amid preparations for its Sun Bowl matchup against Oregon State. Brown surveyed his new receiver room, which included Faison, borrowed from the lacrosse team that summer.

Faison came in as a walk-on, seemingly just another body for the scout team when the season began. But he had been consistently impressive, and when injuries hit the receiver group, including Greathouse, he was called into action, with his scholarship transferring from lacrosse to football. Faison glimmered in the Sun Bowl with 115 receiving yards and a touchdown.

"His coming-out party," Brown recalled. "Ever since I've been here, he's been nothing but awesome."

Faison is now Notre Dame's leading receiver for the second straight season, and serves as a team captain. After helping Notre Dame to two national titles in lacrosse, he announced in January that he would focus solely on football.

"His leadership skills show so much more because you're here for six more months of the year," Brown said. "I think a lot of guys got to see a different side of him. He was kind of thrust to the front of the group within our room, and he handled that really, really well. He's a dream to coach."

Faison shares leadership duties with Greathouse, who was set to be Notre Dame's top wideout after a breakout performance two years ago in the CFP. He combined for 13 receptions, 233 yards and three touchdowns in the national semifinal win against Penn State and the championship game loss to Ohio State.

A nagging hamstring-thigh injury limited Greathouse to only four receptions last season, but he has bounced back this fall with 22 receptions, and was featured in Notre Dame's Oct. 17 loss at BYU. Greathouse has had some of his best games against Notre Dame's tougher opponents.

"I'm not going to shy away from a big challenge or or anything that you know scares me," he said. "That's who I've been, and that's who I'm going to be, time and time again."

Notre Dame has developed a third option at receiver this season in Micah Gilbert, an SC Next 300 recruit in 2024 who did not have a catch in limited action during his first season, and had only nine receptions last fall. Gilbert has had multiple receptions in all but one game this season, breaking out with eight catches for 170 yards against Michigan State, and averaging 17.9 yards per catch.

"That was the one position that we didn't have a guy that was coming back with a lot of snaps," Brown said. "Balls coming his way, he's made some huge, huge plays for us, contested catches, and he's going to continue to get better. He's going to continue to grow. This is just the beginning for him."

Notre Dame has leaned on Faison, Greathouse and Gilbert, possibly too much. In the BYU loss, they combined for 235 snaps, while no other receiver logged more than two. This winter, the Irish tried to bolster their receiver depth in the portal by adding Ohio State transfers Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter, but Porter's continued knee problems has cost him the entire season, and Graham has only five receptions.

The Irish got a boost from Jerome Bettis Jr. in Saturday's win against Navy, as the sophomore and son of the former Notre Dame and NFL great had career highs for receptions (6) and receiving yards (78). He came into the game with five career catches. He didn't have any touches in the BYU game.

"I've seen Jaden Greathouse, I've seen Jordan Faison in these biggest moments, make play after play after play," Brown said. "In those crucial moments, in those big-time games, you're going to lean on a little bit more on those guys. But we will get more guys involved moving forward, and continue our development of the room."

Who's running the ball?

Notre Dame entered a highly anticipated season with a good idea of who would be catching passes from Carr. The Irish also knew they had to fill a massive void in the backfield.

In April, Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price became the first tandem from the same school to become the first two running backs selected in an NFL draft (Love went No. 3 to the Arizona Cardinals and Price capped the first round at No. 32 to the Seattle Seahawks). Aneyas Williams had backed up Love and Price, and was the next in line, but sophomore Nolan James Jr. and freshman Jonaz Walton have emerged as the team's main run threats.

James, who had only 14 carries in 2025, leads Notre Dame in rushing with 519 yards on 90 carries. He has averaged at least 4.7 yards per carry in six of his last seven games, and had a 52-yard touchdown run, a career long, Saturday against Navy. James also is tied for second on the team in touchdown receptions (3) and fourth in total catches (13).

"The transition from the catch to the run is maybe something that some people may struggle with, as opposed to just having it in your hand the whole time," James said. "But I do think it is similar. Once the ball is in your hands, you are a running back."

Walton, the nation's No. 14 running back and No. 155 overall recruit in the 2026 class, has been one of Notre Dame's most dynamic offensive threats. He's averaging a team-high 6.9 yards per carry with a 97-yard touchdown run against Stanford, a 44-yarder against Purdue, and consecutive 100-yard rushing performances.

But Walton logged only 10 snaps in the BYU loss. Although he led the team with 12 carries against Navy, his usage rate against top opponents is worth monitoring. Notre Dame typically gives James two series before pivoting to Walton, but that didn't happen at BYU. The two haven't been used together.

The Irish could use more explosiveness overall, especially in the run game. They're tied for 108th nationally in runs of 10 yards or longer with 30, and tied for 62nd in runs of 20 yards or longer with 10.

"It's just reps," Lambert said. "You could see it with Stanford, Jonaz's big run, and last game, Nolan getting the 52-yarder. These big runs are timing. We've had a couple of those plays where we're one block away or one finish away."

How they work together

The luxury Carr provides at quarterback means Notre Dame doesn't need to be flawless around him.

"It takes a lot of pressure off the playcaller to be perfect with his play calls," Irish coach Marcus Freeman said. "You say, 'OK this is the look, this is who we want to get the ball to versus this look.' [Carr] usually makes the right decision and does a good job of distributing the ball, run and pass, to the playmakers that we have."

Brown tells the wide receivers that they don't need to absorb everything that Carr does, but they must grasp "the whys" when he gets them in certain plays, or switches out of other ones. Carr has "earned a lot of freedom" within the construct of the offense, Brown said.

He also works behind a seasoned offensive line, which includes three players with 20 or more starts (guard Anthonie Knapp, center Ashton Craig and Lambert).

"As the years have gone on, we don't have a lot of transfers, so we grow closer and closer to each other," Lambert said. "It's extremely important to have that type of chemistry."

The next phase is to deliver against an opponent like Miami. Notre Dame has scored 35 points or more in six of eight games, but its explosive play numbers have dropped off since 2025, when the offense ranked No. 2 nationally in yards per play (7.3). The Irish are tied for 80th nationally in total explosives (runs of 10 yards or more and passes of 20 yards or more).

The BYU loss also spotlighted some red zone issues, as Notre Dame scored touchdowns on just 2 of 5 trips inside the Cougars' 20-yard line. Notre Dame is tied for 42nd in red zone touchdown efficiency (66.7% of drives).

"You've got to put points on the board," Faison said. "It definitely was a focus of ours after the game, looking at what more we can do."

Notre Dame's ability to finish drives will be under the microscope against a Miami defense that has shown cracks recently, allowing 35 points in two of its last three games. Carr might be the only national name on the Irish offense going into the game.

If Saturday night goes well, others will earn that designation.

"We can be the best in the country when we're all firing," Lambert said. "CJ, our running back, our wide receivers, and our offensive line, all working together."