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Newsstand: Notre Dame places three on Comeback Player of the Year watch list

IMG_7504by: Jack Soble08/20/25jacksoble56
boubacar traore
Notre Dame defensive end Boubacar Traore. (Mike Miller, Blue & Gold)

Three Notre Dame players who missed all or most of last season made the College Football Comeback Player of the Year watch list, the Irish announced Tuesday: redshirt sophomore guard Charles Jagusah, redshirt junior running back Gi’Bran Payne and redshirt sophomore defensive end Boubacar Traore.

The three of them missed a combined 40 out of 48 possible games in 2024.

Traore, who tore his ACL and LCL in late September, has the best chance to win the award of the three on the watch list. He will start at defensive end in Week 1, and before he got hurt, he was on his way toward emerging as one of the fiercest edge rushers in college football.

In four-plus games, Traore totaled 11 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, a forced fumble and an interception, which he returned 34 yards for a touchdown.

Jagusah is considered a potential first-round draft pick, but he will miss the first part of the season with a broken humerus suffered in a UTV accident. Payne is fighting for a role in Notre Dame’s crowded running back room.

The Irish begin the 2025 season at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 at Miami, a night that will signal Traore and Payne’s return to the field.

Notre Dame Tweets of the day

The quarterback competition is over. Redshirt freshman CJ Carr gets the nod for the Irish.

Carr dazzled in his last public outing at Notre Dame Stadium, the 2025 Blue-Gold Game in April.

State of the Fighting Irish fan base at the moment:

Quote of the day

“It really did come down to splitting a hair. But what wasn’t difficult is knowing how promising the future at quarterback is at Notre Dame. No doubt.”

— Source familiar with how the Irish picked Carr as their starting quarterback to Blue & Gold’s Eric Hansen

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