There are no more excuses for Notre Dame football. Come this weekend, the Irish will be hosting Purdue, but they'll be doing so as an 0-2 team. This is not what anyone imagined after the first two games of the season, but the Boilermakers are going to be taking on a ticked off team.
Watch the moment 5-star Joey O'Brien announced his commitment to Notre Dame
A convincing win should be posted and 5-star commit Joey O'Brien is ready to see things in person. Why is this a big deal? Originally, O'Brien wasn't expected to return to campus until the USC game in mid October. However, despite the rough start for the Irish, O'Brien is making the journey from home in Pennsylvania about a month earlier than expected and reporter Kyle Kelly made it clear he's not thinking about a flip:
This is a huge deal.
— Kyle Kelly (@ByKyleKelly) September 18, 2025
O'Brien wasn't expected back at Notre Dame until the USC game.
But the five-star DB/WR will now visit Saturday, too.
O'Brien is not wavering in his Irish pledge despite their 0-2 start. https://t.co/cKGjJbCQFm
5-star Notre Dame commit Joey O'Brien isn't wavering at all with his commitment
With Notre Dame starting off the year 0-2 and potentially looking at a season without reaching the College Football Playoff, plenty of people thought that perhaps the team's highly-touted pledges could have a wandering eye. Might O'Brien take other trips?
It doesn't look like that's going to be the case, as he's locked in with his decision and now he can't wait to make his way back to South Bend to see what Notre Dame can get done in a must-win Week 4 showdown against Purdue.
Much has been said about quarterback CJ Carr, but the fact of the matter is that a lot of people are not happy about how things are going so far for new defensive coordinator Chris Ash. Ash has been a major disappointment, but he's going to want to change the narrative this weekend.
With O'Brien, a 5-star playmaker and the No. 4 safety in the country according to 247Sports, in town, Ash is going to want to show him how strong his unit can be for the future. A big win for the Irish and a strong defensive performance can further help make O'Brien realize that there's no better place for him to call home starting in 2026. O'Brien is an elite prospect and ND fans everywhere can't wait to see him make plays for Freeman and Ash soon enough.