Charles Jagusah Is Ready To Show Notre Dame Fans What He's Made Of

The lineage of Notre Dame’s left tackles is long and illustrious. Recent first round picks at the position to come through the Fighting Irish program include Mike McGlinchey, Ronnie Stanley and Zack Martin, who are all still starring in the NFL.

Joe Alt will soon add his name to that list after starting the final 33 games of his career there over the last three seasons. Alt has opted out of the Sun Bowl after declaring for the 2024 draft and true freshman Charles Jagusah is next in line to uphold Notre Dame’s left tackle tradition when the Irish take the field on Friday against Oregon State.

"I think to play up to the standard here you have to want to be the best,” Jagusah said of his opportunity. "If you’re not trying to be the best at all times, someone else is going to come do your job for you. I think that mentality has been the biggest for me. We’ve had great guys like Joe and Blake to do it here and other guys that have come and done a great job. You want to live up to that standard, but you’re also your own player so you just have to do the best you can.”

The early stages of Jagusah’s first season at Notre Dame were about recovery. He suffered a knee injury during his high school senior season that kept him from playing in the All-American bowl last January. He enrolled at Notre Dame last June and took backup reps during fall training camp. The lack of full bend in his knees was obvious and it took him several weeks over the course of the season to feel like he was 100%.

"It’s kind of one of those where it’s always going to feel a little different than it did, but I’d say kind of around week seven or eight where I started to feel pretty good,” Jagusah explained. "It’s been a process. I’m still working on it a little bit, but I’m ready to play.”

The only previous action he has seen this season was in Notre Dame’s regular season finale against Stanford. Before that it was practice, practice and more practice, working on technique and trying to improve behind the scenes.

"I’d say foot quickness because I’m more confident in pushing off my knee,” Jagusah said of where he has made the most improvement since the start of the season. "My hand play has gotten better but it’s still something I need to work on a lot over the next however many days we have until the game. It’s going to be a big focus for me in the offseason too. But I’d say just getting my balance back and my foot quickness has been the biggest improvement for me.”

Jagusah came to Notre Dame as the highest rated player in the 2023 signing class. He knew he would have to bide his time backing up Alt and right tackle Blake Fisher, who is also headed to the NFL, this season. But he has learned from the two talented veterans in his one season with them.

"Really just how to play with your hands,” Jagusah said. "Joe does things a little bit differently where he kind of does this little weird shuffle thing and he’s just so long that he just grabs and gets on them and they can’t get away. I think Joe, definitely learning to play with length, and Blake, because he moves a little more like me, just kind of understanding how to set people and how to get in a good relationship and how to play with length so you don’t just get blown over.”

The Rock Island, Ill native came into camp listed at 330 pounds but he says he has worked his way down to around 320 heading into the Sun Bowl. He plans to stay in that range while adding more lean mass and strength once the new offseason program begins under new football performance director Loren Landow. But that’s for next year. Jagusah’s primary focus right now is getting ready for a good Oregon State defense in the Sun Bowl.

"I just have to not get too geared up, keep it simple, just do what I know how to do,” Jagusah stated. "This team runs a lot of stunts and a lot of different kind of games. You have to be ready for things to hit you fast and you’re not ready for it. So don’t get too geared up to hit somebody and get blown up from behind. You have to stay focused, remember the things going on around you, check alignment and stuff like that. Just get ready to go.”

If Jagusah is in fact ready to go against the Beavers it will give the Irish a very young, but massive and very talented player to build the future offensive line around.

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