Notre Dame Receives Strong Message From 5-Star Recruit After Visit
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and head coach Marcus Freeman have found themselves in a heated recruiting battle for class of 2027 defensive lineman Marcus Fakatou out of Chatsworth, California. Originally part of the 2028 cycle, he reclassified and will hit college a year early.
As a five-star recruit, the No. 2 defensive lineman and the No. 27 player in the nation, per Rivals Industry Rankings, he's receiving a lot of attention. He's taken visits with the Fighting Irish, USC Trojans, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes, Texas Longhorns and Oregon Ducks, to name a few.
The 6-foot-7 and 275-pound pass rusher's most recent visit came with Notre Dame, making his way to South Bend on Saturday for the fourth time.
Following his time on campus, Fakatou spoke to Rivals' veteran recruiting analyst Greg Biggins and praised the experience.
"Notre Dame moved way up for me," he said. "I would put them in my top two right now. It's them and Ohio State. Ohio State is probably a slight leader but Notre Dame is right there and this trip really showed me why I had them leading in the first place.
Last season for Orange Lutheran High School, he racked up 69 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, seven sacks, 14 hurries and two pass deflections. He earned first-team honors as a MaxPreps Sophomore All-American.
As of now, signs are pointing to the Fighting Irish winning this battle. The Rivals recruiting prediction machine gives Notre Dame the best chance (89.8%) to land Fakatou, with Michigan (2.3%), USC (1.6%), Oregon (1.1%), Texas (1.1%) and Ohio State (1.1%) all far behind.
If Freeman and his staff do pull it off, he would be a major addition to their 2027 recruiting class. Notre Dame has already landed 10 commitments, ranking ninth in the nation.
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This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 8:50 AM.