Notre Dame set sights on Penn State’s prized pledge in 2027 recruiting twist

The Notre Dame football team has only gone up against Penn State 20 times in the two programs' history, but a rivalry is budding off the field. The two schools have clashed for more than a few prospects in the 2026 class, and now Marcus Freeman and Co. are trying to flip a 5-star commitment from the 2027 class in Kemon Spell.

Spell is a considered the No. 1 player in Pennysylvania, the No. 1 running back and the No. 9 player overrall in the 2027 class according to the Rivals Industry rankings. In other words, he's the kind of home run-hitting blue chipper that Penn State has always known it was going to be hard to hold onto.

Notre Dame football goes after Penn State commit Kemon Spell

According to Rivals, Spell is still committed to the Nittany Lions, but he'll be taking some visits to other programs this fall during game days. That includes a trip to see what Notre Dame football has to offer on September 13.

That's a heck of a weekend to go see a game in South Bend. The Fighting Irish will take on Texas A&M that weekend, and it will be the first contest off a bye week and what the Blue and Gold hope is a big win over the Miami Hurricanes.

It's not hard to see why Notre Dame and other big programs are going after Spell. He had a breakout sophomore campaign last year that saw him carry the ball 157 times for 1,681 yards (10.7 YPC) and 24 touchdowns. As a freshman, Spell ran for 517 yards on 37 carries and scored 12 TDs.

While the Irish are once again trying to poach a player from Penn State, they're not the only team. In addition to seeing a Penn State game on September 27, he'll also check out Florida State on October 4 and Alabama on October 18.

This one is going to be a fight, but at least Notre Dame football is gearing up for it. When it comes to 5-star blue chippers, that hasn't always been the case.