Key Players Could Return for Notre Dame If Irish Make College Football Playoff
Notre Dame has avoided the injury bug that plagued the 2024 campaign.
That doesn’t mean there haven’t been key injuries, but there is potential hope on the horizon for Marcus Freeman’s team as the Irish enter the final two regular-season games.
Wide receiver Jaden Greathouse entered the year with high expectations following back-to-back 100-yard games in the College Football Playoff. A nagging hamstring injury slowed down Greathouse in 2025, as he has recorded just four receptions for 73 yards.
Each week, Greathouse has gone from questionable during the week to out by game day. Freeman provided an update on the Texas native on Monday as Notre Dame prepares to host Syracuse.
“It's taken him longer than we thought to get healthy, but he's probably as close to being healthy right now as he's been,” stated Freeman.
Greathouse has played in four games this season, so he won’t be dressing the final two games to protect his redshirt.
Will the fifth year be needed? If all goes as planned for Greathouse, probably not, but it does give him flexibility if he needs it.
“Is it right for us to make him play these last two games and cost him a year if we can get away with saving him a whole year by not playing these last two games?” Freeman said. “That's our mindset is if we don't have to play him this week, let's try not to. He'll be ready.
“We're going to try to hold off on playing him in hopes of being able to redshirt him for this year. If we play beyond Stanford, then he'll be ready to go.”
Notre Dame defensive lineman Gabe Rubio has missed the last four games with an elbow injury, but it’s not a season-ending one.
Freeman didn’t want to commit to stating Notre Dame would be in the College Football Playoff on Monday afternoon, but if the Irish do make it, Rubio would be set for a return.
“You got me talking about things that are uncertain right now,” Freeman stated. “But if we are able to be in postseason play, we expect Gabe Rubio to be back for that.”
The status is a bit unclear on Notre Dame left guard and captain Billy Schrauth, who suffered an MCL sprain against USC.
That said, Schrauth is one Notre Dame is expecting to be back at some point.
“When he's ready, he's ready,” Freeman said last week. “There's no importance of regular season, postseason. If he can get back, he'll play, but right now he's just trying to keep improving and get to that point where he can help us, but he's not there yet. I don't know when he'll be there, but he's working tirelessly at really getting back to helping his football team.”
Notre Dame cornerback Christian Gray missed the last two games with a hip injury, but returned last weekend against Pitt.
The St. Louis native played 58 snaps on Saturday, which tied for a team-high on the defensive side of the ball.
“You can tell he's different when he's healthy,” explained Freeman. “He is a different football player and he showed that on Saturday. He showed that in practice. He came out of the game feeling great. We’ve got to continue to make sure we keep him healthy.”
Defensive end Joshua Burnham has played through injury this year, but it appears he turned a corner coming out of the bye week. In the last three games, Burnham has tallied seven tackles and three sacks, which has Freeman excited.
“Joshua is healthy,” said Freeman. “I think there were some things early in the season that prevented him from playing at the level he's playing at now. He's playing consistent. He's always been a hard, high-effort guy. He plays the game with effort, but we had to get him healthy.
“Now you're seeing him have the statistics and the performances that come along with practicing at a high level and playing with that high effort and he's doing some really good things.”
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