Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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16 NOV. 7, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER JAMES N otre Dame senior Jaden Great- house should know how fleet- ing individual production can be for a wide receiver. Greathouse appeared to be destined for stardom with the way he finished the 2024 season in the final two games of the College Football Playoff. He totaled 13 receptions for 233 yards and 3 touch- downs in a semifinal victory over Penn State and a national championship loss to Ohio State in January 2025. Greathouse didn't collect his next 13 receptions until Notre Dame's 18th game after that championship appear- ance. That's because Greathouse missed eight games in the 2025 season with a hamstring injury, and he totaled just 12 receptions across the four games he played last season and the first five of this season. Greathouse didn't blossom into the go-to receiver in Notre Dame's offense, but he started to regain relevance in early October. He caught touchdown passes in back-to-back games against North Carolina and Stanford, then he stepped into a prominent role with 8 catches for 125 yards in a 28-24 loss to BYU. On the game's final play, quar- terback CJ Carr tried to connect with Greathouse for an 8-yard touchdown on a slot fade, but tight coverage by BYU defensive back Evan Johnson that could have been called pass interference prevented Greathouse from making a game-winning touchdown catch. An encouraging individual perfor- mance still ended in heartbreak. "Just seeing the fruits of your labor and going out there every single day in practice and working as hard as you can for the team," Greathouse said of his production. "But then it sucks to not get the win and to not get that team glory at the end. It's just another chip on your shoulder to come out in practice and work that much harder." Notre Dame knew BYU would give the Irish pass catchers opportunities to win one-on-one matchups with man cover- age. Greathouse took advantage of those opportunities both on designed routes and in situations that required impro- vising with a scrambling Carr. "We went out and attacked them and ended up being able to hit on some of those plays," Greathouse said. "Just at- tacking one-on-one matchups, knowing the talent that we have in our receiver room and not being shy to throw the ball." Especially if Notre Dame is going to continue to lean so heavily on its start- ing trio of wide receivers — Greathouse, senior Jordan Faison and junior Micah Gilbert — the Irish need Greathouse's talent to continue to show up. "He's getting that confidence back," Notre Dame wide receivers coach Mike Brown said of Greathouse. "He's getting that swagger back, and it's really fun. It's really fun to watch, and you just keep en- couraging him and keeping him grounded and understanding the work that it took to get back to this point and making sure that he continues to put that work in. "And I know he will, but him having that confidence and a quarterback hav- ing that confidence in him, obviously it does wonders for us as a team." Greathouse was third on the team in receptions (19), receiving yards (263) and receiving touchdowns (2, tied with two others) through the first seven games of the season. Faison led the way with 34 receptions for 451 yards and 4 touchdowns. Gilbert ranked second in receptions (22) and receiving yards (409), and was tied for third with 2 touchdown catches. GREATHOUSE REVIVAL Jaden Greathouse is starting to look like his previous breakout version Greathouse caught a career-high 8 passes for 125 yards at BYU Oct. 17, delivering his third career 100-yard receiving game after scoring touchdowns in each of Notre Dame's previous two contests. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER