Not only did Jackson Roper enjoy his visit to Notre Dame earlier this month, but so did the 2027 Colorado offensive lineman’s entire family.
“It was really good,” Roper told Irish Sports Daily. “Everything went really well. It was a really fun trip. It was my first time ever being there and seeing the campus and everything and my family's. It was a great experience for me and my whole family. I loved watching the game and for them to get a win like that was really exciting.”
Roper was impressed with the Irish’s performance in their 34-24 win over USC.
“I think they did a really good job coaching,” he said. “It was a really well-coached game. They had a great gameplan going into it, and obviously you could see that on the field. I thought the offensive line played really well and played really well as a unit too. (Jeremiyah) Love had so much room to run and obviously he's really talented and he makes plays, but the fact that he was able to get through to the second level without being touched is just huge. So, the offensive line played really well, the coaching and adjustments. Everything in the game went really well and you can see that through the win.”
That’s the kind of gameplan the 6-foot-5, 305-pounder could get behind.
“I love running the ball,” he said. “That's my thing. I mean, I like to think I'm good at pass setting and doing everything, but I absolutely love to run the ball. That's super exciting to see that and see a team really rely on that. And when you can run the ball on somebody, that opens up the whole rest of the offense. So they did a great job of that and that was super exciting to see and obviously led to a great win.”
The Cherry Creek High School standout already has offers from school like Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Washington, Kansas, Kansas State and Arizona State among others.
He thoroughly enjoyed the entire trip to South Bend.
“The overall visit was really good,” he said. “I enjoyed everything about it. I thought the staff was really nice and obviously getting to see some of the school and learn about it was really cool too.
“I got to meet some of the recruits and they were all really good kids and it was really cool. Also Joe Montana was there, so I got to meet him. He spoke to us for a little bit on just Notre Dame and the school. That was really exciting.”
Montana’s presence alone said a lot to Roper about the University.
“It shows that it's just a true brotherhood, honestly,” he said. “The team, they care about each other. Once you're a Notre Dame person, you always are. It just shows that it's brotherhood and they care about each other, and they talked about that too. The things you can do outside once you're done playing football at Notre Dame. There are jobs everywhere, people love it and it's really a group. For him to come back and talk to us was really cool. And to see that and some of the other presentations they gave on the brotherhood, which is a really good situation. It was really cool.
Roper appreciated the fact that the Irish staff invited his entire family for the trip.
“That's a huge opportunity,” he said. “My brothers got to see their first college game ever. And to go to a game like that is just really exciting. That's really cool. It was such a good game and it just shows how they care and they care more about just football, but the individual too. They care about the whole person and it's family-based too. So there are a lot of great things that go into it.
Roper has also made trips to Arizona State, Texas A&M, Ole MIss, Nebraska and Oklahoma this season. He’s thinking about possible visits to Alabama, Ohio State and Michigan.
Regardless, he’d love to return to South Bend this offseason.
“Hopefully I can make it back out to a Junior Day or something, or spring practice and hopefully get offered. That would be great too. Just continue my relationship with coaches. I can definitely see that and it's a really good school and a really good option.”
Want the latest scoop on the Fighting Irish? Sign up for our newsletter and become an ISD Premium Subscriber: Sign Up for ISD
Under Armour White Notre Dame Fighting Irish Home Replica Hockey Jersey
