The Fighting Irish are 1-0 while future scholarship Notre Dame players venture into their junior (2026 class) and senior (2025 class) varsity seasons. 

In our latest edition of Tracking the Trail, Irish Illustrated discussed the fruits of Marcus Freeman's labor showing themselves in Notre Dame's season opener versus Texas A&M. Several of the most touted members of Coach Freeman's first few recruiting classes not only earned starting roles as underclassmen, but they also made significant plays on Saturday night. 

That's where Irish Illustrated started in this week's recruiting podcast. It was followed by a discussion of Notre Dame's commits and how they fared in recent high school action, who we're looking to watch this weekend, and a popular 2026 recruit who is standing out in a big way.