Notre Dame quickly losing ground on 5-star RB once predicted to pick the Irish

The 2027 recruiting is beginning to pick up speed with the offseason approaching quickly for college football. The Transfer Portal has now come and gone, so the news of players entering is officially over, and it comes down to where guys choose to commit at this point, which leaves the stage set for the 2017 recruits.

For one 2027 recruit, he has already had quite the recruiting cycle. Five-star running back Kemon Spell already committed to Penn State, but after the firing of James Franklin during the 2025 season, he decided to de-commit and look elsewhere. Spell has been shopping around, and it looked like Marcus Freeman and Notre Dame were the big favorites to land the elite running back.

Things look to be changing now after a lengthy conversation Spell had with new Penn State head coach Matt Campell, so much so, he is considering a re-commitment with the Nittany Lions.

Marcus Freeman will have to pull out all the stops for 5-star RB Kemon Spell

Kemon Spell is currently the No. 1 running back in the Class of 2027 according to 247Sports, who is now crystal-balled to pick Penn State again. This would be bad news for Notre Dame, which has worked hard for the last few months to get Spell in an Irish uniform.

According to 247Sports Composite rankings, Spell is ranked as the No. 7 player in the Class of 2027, the No. 1 running back in the class, and the No. 1 player in the state of Pennsylvania. Landing Spell would have been a feather in Freeman's cap when it comes to recruiting, but he is going to have to pull out all his tricks to pull Spell away from Campbell and Penn State.

Spell made a visit to Penn State, and his talk with Campbell clearly had him feeling the Nittany Lions again, but nothing is set in stone yet. There is still a lot of time left in this recruiting cycle, and Freeman could make a big move that could land Spell.