Notre Dame Alums Shine in Saturday’s NFL Preseason Action

Dallas drafted Liufau in third round last year and finished with 50 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery as a rookie. Liufau started nine games and played in all 17 last year as a rookie and not only should be the Cowboys Week 1 starter at outside linebacker come September, but possibly a breakout player in 2025.

His teammate, Brandon Aubrey, who played soccer, not football at Notre Dame, made all three of his kicks -- two field goals and an extra point -- and is a lock as the Cowboys starting kicker. As for a former Notre Dame player who plays for Dallas who isn't a starter, let alone guaranteed to make the team, is cornerback Troy Pride Jr. The former fourth-round pick by the Carolina Panthers back in 2020 finished with two tackles and is an uphill battle to crack the Week 1 roster.

Special teams standout Ben Skowronek saw action at wide receiver in the Steelers first preseason game and caught a pass. The versatile Skowronek lined up all over the place last year under Steelers' first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. With Aaron Rodgers now under center, Skowronek's likelihood of getting much playing time on offense appears small. Skowronek is likely to contribute mostly on special teams.

Also with the Steelers, last year's Notre Dame punt returner is putting up quite the effort trying to make the squad. Max Hurleman was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent and caught a touchdown pass out of the backfield Saturday.

Rookie defensive back Jordan Clark recorded a tackle in his NFL preseason debut and veteran defensive lineman Jerry Tillery finished with three tackles and a stuff in his Chiefs debut. Tillery played early in this one because Andy Reid is a firm believer in playing his starters during the preseason, but don't be surprised if the versatile defensive lineman comes off the bench come the regular season. Tillery started 11 games last year on a solid Minnesota defense and very well could be a key piece to the Chiefs defense that is looking to return to the Super Bowl for the fourth consecutive season.