Lucky Charms: Intriguing underclassmen to visit Notre Dame this weekend

Here are today’s Lucky Charms, a Monday-Thursday nightly insider notes article on Notre Dame football recruiting.

*** Naples (Fla.) Lely class of 2025 athlete Jayce Cora will be visiting Notre Dame for the pivotal contest against Ohio State this weekend. Cora is a newer target for the Fighting Irish and one who fans need to get familiar with. The staff offered him Aug. 1 as a safety prospect; other colleges are looking at him for that position as well as receiver. Cora has been keeping in touch with Irish safeties coach Chris O’Leary, head coach Marcus Freeman and defensive coordinator Al Golden.

Cora doesn’t have a long offer list at this point; Louisville, Illinois and West Virginia are the other Power Five schools that have extended a scholarship. The 6-3, 185-pounder reports that he clocks in at a 4.6 40-yard dash, which is a very impressive time for a high school junior. Cora is very excited about Notre Dame.

*** One new, notable addition to this week’s visitor list is Durham (N.C.) South Garner’s Ekene Ogboko, who ranks as the nation’s No. 24 overall player and No. 4 offensive tackle according to the 2026 On3 Industry Ranking. He’s a high school sophomore who already stands at a reported 6-6, 270 pounds and holds offers from the likes of Georgia, NC State, Tennessee and Penn State. It would come as little surprise if Notre Dame offers the four-star prospect this weekend.

And Ogboko’s older brother, Nnamdi, is a Georgia commit in the 2024 class who ranks as the No. 911 overall player and No. 87 defensive lineman nationally. It’ll be interesting to see if Nnamdi makes the trip up as well.

*** I exchanged a few messages with Overland Park (Kan.) St. Thomas Aquinas’ Julian Marks, the No. 218 overall prospect and No. 25 defensive lineman in the country per the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking, late last week to check in on how his recruiting process is going since picking up an offer from Notre Dame at the end of July. He told me he’s been in constant communication with defensive line coach Al Washington and defensive coordinator Al Golden, but that contact might die down. Over the weekend, Marks committed to Missouri over Kansas State; the former happened to beat the latter Saturday.

*** Notre Dame got back in touch with Orange (Calif.) Lutheran’s AJ la, who ranks as the No. 360 player and No. 20 tight end nationally per the 2025 On3 Industry Ranking, after Nate Roberts decommitted over the summer. The 6-6, 220-pounder noted to me that he’s not hearing from the Irish as much as other schools, so I’m guessing it’s pretty likely he’ll still end up elsewhere, but we’ll see.

The post Lucky Charms: Intriguing underclassmen to visit Notre Dame this weekend appeared first on On3.