Is Notre Dame Football About to Invade a Rising Big Ten Team Again?

Notre Dame football has seemingly taken a look at one Big Ten in recent days and liked what it saw

Nov 8, 2025; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman points to the crowd after the second half against the Navy Midshipmen at Notre Dame Stadium. | Michael Caterina-Imagn Images

The only thing keeping Notre Dame from officially joining the elites in recent college football history is its lack of a national championship since the 1988 season.

While everyone around the Notre Dame football program hopes that changes in 2026, Marcus Freeman and the Fighting Irish continue to plan for beyond that as well.

Part of the planning for the years ahead has been spent around a rising Big Ten program in recent days, and that appears to be continuing.

Notre Dame's Recent Interest in Illinois Football

Over the weekend, reports surfaced that Notre Dame will be making an official hire of Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry. Henry is expected to coach Notre Dame's defensive backs and be a co-defensive coordinator along with Chris Ash.

That's not all from the Fighting Illini football program that has caught Notre Dame's eye recently, though. You can go ahead and add a current Illinois quarterback commitment to the list of things Marcus Freeman and his staff appear to be interested in.

Notre Dame Scouts Illinois Quarterback Kamden Lopati

Notre Dame had an interesting off-season in quarterback recruiting as Teddy Jarrard of Georgia reclassified from the 2027 recruiting cycle to 2026. That created an opening in the 2027 class for Notre Dame to take a quarterback and it appears the Irish have eyes on a current Illinois commitment.

Notre Dame quarterback coach Gino Guidugli visited Kamden Lopati last week, and there is a belief that a scholarship offer may be coming to the current Fighting Illini commitment.

Notre Dame QB coach Gino Guidugli visited with Illinois QB commit Kamden Lopati on Wednesday morning ‼️

Offer watch? 👀☘️

Notes here: https://t.co/mo5Ln3M7Zg pic.twitter.com/A7NFVV1iig

— Mike Singer (@MikeTSinger) January 28, 2026

Lopati checks in at 6-3, 215-pounds, and hails from Salt Lake City (West), Utah. He has been committed to Illinois since late July of last year, and holds offers from nearly 20 programs, including Tennessee, Oregon, Utah, and others.

Lopati is currently rated as a three-star recruit by 247Sports, but a four-star according to the 247Sports composite ratings. 247Sports rates him as the 19th best quarterback in the 2027 recruiting cycle.

Greg Biggins of 247Sports had the following to say about Lopati:

His arm talent is what jumps out and what separates him. He can throw the deeper outs and posts on a rope and the ball jumps out of his hand. Want to see him continue to improve his ability to process the game and be quicker with his reads but with two more years to develop, it’s exciting to see where his game will be at by the time he’s ready for college.

Time will tell if Notre Dame ultimately makes the offer to the Utah product, but its clear that Illinois winning 19 games over the past two seasons for the first time in program history, has some of college football's elites taking an interest in their makeup.