Notre Dame football has a chance to build a pipeline in a prominent Trinity League program

Notre Dame football is set to take on the Florida State Seminoles this weekend, and it is going to be a huge recruiting weekend for the Irish as well. There is a long list of talented 2025 and 2026 recruits set to be on campus, including a couple of priority players for the 2025 class. That includes a couple of very talented linebackers.

One player that Notre Dame has seemingly been in a great position with for some time now is San Juan Capistrano (Calif.) JSerra Catholic star linebacker Madden Faraimo. Thinking back to the offseason, it felt like only a matter of time until the 6-3, 230-pound defender was going to be a part of the class.

Credit to schools like Texas and USC who did not throw in the towel at that point, and have kept baffling for Faraimo. A near consensus top 100 recruit in the 2025 class, his combination of length, explosiveness, and versatility is a big sell to a defense. Faraimo already has another vision scheduled back to South Bend for their game against USC, but there’s a chance the Irish staff can close this one out this weekend.

As it turns out, Faraimo isn’t the only JSerra Catholic star who will be visiting this weekend. Notre Dame will also be hosting 2026 defensive lineman Simote Katoanga, who will be making his third visit to campus.

The 6-5, 240-pound defender has the skill set to play either at strong side defensive end, or potentially moving inside down the road. Katoanga ranks as the No. 52 overall player and No. 8 EDGE in the 2026 recruiting class according to On3. Outside of the Irish, programs such as Georgia, Oregon, Tennessee, USC, Miami, and Nebraska have offered among others.

It appears that Notre Dame has made a huge impression on the talented defensive lineman, and some believe that they may be the clear leader for him currently. Getting both Faraimo and Katoanga in consecutive cycles would be huge for the Irish, attracting talent from arguably the best conference in high school football.

The Trinity League has a great reputation for putting out substantial talent over the years. With schools like Mater Dei, Servite, St. John Bosco, and Santa Margarita Catholic, that talent has been plentiful. Over the years, names like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, Matt Barkley, Ryan and Matt Kalil, Josh Rosen, Brian Finneran, Dante Pettis, Nick Harris, Luke Wattenberg, and Avery Williams among others.

Notre Dame has even dipped into that talent pool in the past. That includes former standout quarterbacks John Huarte and Steve Beuerlin, and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. You can also add former St. John Bosco star Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa to that list.

If history has told us anything, getting talent from the Trinity League is a smart investment. It appears that Notre Dame could start to build a sound pipeline in JSerra Catholic moving forward, which is a nice move.