It’s been a minute since Notre Dame’s run game has been a topic of concern.
The Fighting Irish enter Week 3 with 229 rushing yards and four touchdowns, but Ja’Juan Seider’s unit is averaging just 3.6 yards per carry.
There is plenty of talent in the room, but the production was always going to take a step back.
That’s simply the reality of losing two first-round running backs. Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price made history last spring, becoming the first college teammates in history to be selected as the first two running backs in the NFL Draft.
Notre Dame has been able to run the ball when it has needed to. Aneyas Williams and Nolan James Jr. found enough room in the second half against Wisconsin to help the Irish break the game open.
The lack of production against Rice was a little surprising.
Seider believes his room is close to turning the corner.
“I really think we're fine,” Seider stated. “We’re heading in the right direction. We're cleaning up some things. We’re allowing them to see some things differently that'll let them take an inhale. Right now we inhale, and we gotta exhale and just go play the game.”
Williams entered the season with high expectations after patiently waiting his turn behind Love and Price.
A year ago, the Missouri native averaged 9.3 yards per carry while scoring five touchdowns. Williams has started his 2026 campaign averaging 4.1 yards per carry, but Seider believes the next step is for his running back to play free.
“You have to make sure he doesn't feel too much weight in being that leader and trying to be the guys that were ahead of him,” explained Seider. “He's feeling that. If that was the one negative I would say, he's feeling that pressure. He is trying to please everybody and that's the biggest thing. Get off social media, put it away.
“You can't live in that world because you're gonna read about it. When you do well, they're gonna talk about you. It's a new year. What have you done for me lately? That's the world we live in. I could feel it in that game. He probably felt like I need to make these plays and that's when you press. You overrun, or you're too fast on the run and not letting it develop.”
Seider knows firsthand what Williams can do.
In 2024, Williams rushed for 17 yards and caught five passes for 66 yards as Notre Dame defeated Penn State in the Orange Bowl with Seider on the opposite sideline that night.
“I was on the other end playing against him and he sent me home,” stated Seider. “We've seen this kid make plays. I really think he's feeling that pressure and I got to do a good job of helping him. Sometimes it might be taking a step back to watch somebody else play.
“That's what we find out as a coach, like what do we do to help them? And not just me, all of us. (Mike) Denbrock, like it might be running style. He might be more of a pistol runner than a gun runner. That's what we're trying to find out right now as a group.”
That last part is important. While some outside the building may believe fall camp provides enough time to identify a team's strengths and weaknesses, Seider doesn't believe it's that simple.
“When you go through this transition, you got a different room, a different skill set that's different than the two you had last year,” Seider explained. ‘No different when they had Audric (Estime), they had a certain type of running scheme. So people say, "Well, you should figure it out in camp. Well, you don't figure it out when you go against your own team, like how they defend you, like what works, right?
“I use Rice. We should beat Rice, but what Rice does defend every day is a pretty good running team. We should have knocked them off the ball. It ain't just the running backs. This guy's winning in gaps that goes hand in hand with that. So you look at the film. We were close on a few that got opportunities to be big plays, and that's what I tell the guys. We're close. Stay with it. Trust yourself.”
The running backs aren't operating by themselves. The offensive line has to win the line of scrimmage, the backs have to make the correct reads and Notre Dame's coaching staff is figuring out exactly what each player does best.
James has already proven he’s ready for the bright lights, scoring in both games despite not having Williams' rushing production.
Junior Kedren Young is another piece of the puzzle, although Seider doesn't believe he has seen the player who was the talk of last summer before suffering a torn ACL.
“I still think he's coming back from that knee because I don't feel him yet,” said Seider. “I don’t feel the Kedren I saw a year ago. I don't know if he's in his head or what. They need reps. They need opportunity to do it.”
That’s why Seider continues to give Young and the other backs opportunities.
The X-factor in all of this could eventually be freshman Jonaz Walton.
Walton carried the ball eight times for 48 yards against Rice and showed the type of burst that intrigued plenty of people, including his position coach.
“I think one kid is doing a great job,” Seider stated. “Jonaz doing a really good job. I've been saying that he's going to help us this year, and I think he's getting closer and closer to doing that soon.
“The beauty of having older guys, you don't have to rush them kids. In other places, you got to rush them when they're not ready, and you destroy the confidence.”
The next step for the Georgia native is simply learning the game at the college level.
“There's some kids that look at you with those big eyes,” explained Seider. “He was the same kid. I always tell him, when he loves football as much as he loves school, watch out. I think he still loves school more than he loves football, and I'm serious.
“He’s a nerd, but in a good way. I think he's starting to realize he can be really good at football, and his power and speed – it’s my job is now to get him from going to A, to get him to go to B to C. That's been a challenge for him because in high school he was able to just get downhill and be the best player.”
Freshman Javian Osborne also played Saturday and flashed during fall camp, according to multiple sources, but he isn't quite ready to get into the rotation.
“The talent is there,” Seider said. “When he knows what he's doing, he's got the ball in his hand, he's as good as anybody in the room. He just hasn't picked up the whole system yet, the playbooks. He's still young.
“That's OK, because the kid came in, missed spring, had wrist surgery. So couldn't get a ton of reps. When you're in fall camp, you can't practice five guys. You're really gonna focus on four and even sometimes that's hard because you're trying to divvy up reps.”
Osborne also appears to be in a good headspace despite entering the season as the fifth back on the depth chart.
“He's coming along,” said Seider. “I think once you can leave, 'Hey, I was this big-time athlete at home, and I'm going through some struggles, and I can own my struggles to learn.' That's when you're able to grow and you stop worrying about what people say.
“I had to tell him, ‘Look, everybody in this room was four-stars at one point. So what you did in high school don't matter.’ Now you gotta come earn your keep. You gotta get in this film room, you got to ask questions, you gotta meet with myself. If you can't meet with me, get with Coach (Trent) Miles. Get that extra study time so you can catch up.”
There is plenty of talent in Notre Dame's running back room.
And Seider's message to his players is simple. They don't need to be Love or Price. They need to become themselves.
“You got here for a reason,” Seider said. “This is your time. You gotta trust when it's tough, but you also gotta run your race. Don't try to replace someone else. You’re not JLove. That's a generational talent, and JD wasn’t far behind him. You gotta be the best version of you. If you can do that, then you can play the game the way you’re supposed to play it.”
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