Notre Dame football legend lends a helping hand on Junior Day

For the first Junior Day of the year, it was officially all hands on deck for the Notre Dame football team. Coaches, current players, and even Hall of Fame running backs lent a hand.

Marcus Freeman and company have been hitting it out of the park on the recruiting trail since they arrived in South Bend. However, things have ramped up a bit regarding the 2025 recruiting class. And on Saturday, they called on a Notre Dame football legend, Jerome Bettis, to serve as the icing on the cake.

Dozens of recruits came to South Bend and at least one got to meet one of the best players to ever call the town home.

4-star edge rusher and Notre Dame commit CJ May was greeted by none other than The Bus when he arrived at the airport. The Blue Chip prospect posted the meeting on Twitter, with the caption, "Bumped into my guy @JeromeBettis36 as soon as I touched down in South Bend!!"

Unsurprising it appears that May was more than happy to meet a player that not only had a great career with the Fighting Irish but went on to have a Hall of Fame career in the NFL. After all, the end goal for anyone going to school in South Bend is to take their talents to the next level.

Notre Dame football gets a helping hand on Junior Day

The appearance of Jerome Bettis is really more than just one former Notre Dame star showing up on Junior Day. It demonstrates once again how Marcus Freeman has made South Bend a place that some of the greats to come through the program want to hang out at again.

In turn, it's a place where players who might eventually be part of the Notre Dame football program want to hang out. That's only good for recruiting now and in the future.