While Notre Dame almost certainly won't be as active in the Transfer Portal as some other rival programs, there are some players Marcus Freeman's crew would love to pick up to shore up its roster. That includes former Iowa State wide receiver Xavier Townsend.
Townsend played the 2025 season with the Cylcones after starting his career with UCF and had a bit of a down year. This past season, he had just 18 catches for 243 yards and didn't find the endzone. That doesn't appear to be scaring the Fighting Irish off.
Notre Dame will host the grad transfer wide receiver on Monday and Tuesday. His trip to South Bend will be right after he goes down to Tallahassee to see what Florida State has to offer.
Over three seasons at UCF, Townsend totaled 66 catches for 521 yards and four touchdowns. His most productive year came as a sophomore, when he hauled in 33 passes for 325 yards and three scores.
In high school, Townsend starred at Berkeley Prep (Florida) and, thanks to his time there, has developed ties to Notre Dame as he was teammates with Tre and Troy Reader.
During his senior season, Townsend starred as a running back, rushing for 1,209 yards and 20 touchdowns. He also contributed in the passing game, catching 19 passes for 434 yards and seven touchdowns from Troy Reader.
With schools like Notre Dame and Florida State coming after the wide receiver, it's clear there's an expectation he can have a better campaign than he did in 2025 with the right offense. The Irish have had success the last few years in bringing in Portal receivers and melding them into top targets for their quarterbacks.