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Notre Dame (3-0) and Purdue (1-2) square off this weekend as the Fighting Irish look to win their 14th straight game. Notre Dame is also looking for its 11th straight win over Purdue, and for its third win over a Big Ten team in 2026. Notre Dame has a significant talent advantage over Purdue, and a look at the recruiting rankings between two teams in one example of that.

Let's look at how these two teams stack up in recruiting rankings using the Rivals/On3 composite rankings to compare. 

NOTRE DAME OFFENSE VS PURDUE DEFENSE

Purdue has struggled on defense this season, giving up 36.3 points per game and 446.7 yards per game. Wake Forest went for 38 against the Boilermakers and UCLA racked up 52 points thanks to 369 rushing yards. Purdue lacks talent throughout its depth chart on defense, and the recruiting rankings show a bit of that. While recruiting rankings are certainly not the end all, be all, the fact Purdue has just one four-star recruit in its two-deep is concerning when matching up against a team like Notre Dame.

To go further, Purdue only has two starters and one depth chart that ranks among the Top 500 players nationally. Safety Jaden Mangham, a transfer from Michigan State, is the only regular in the Purdue defensive lineup that ranked as a four-star recruit coming out of high school. 

Purdue's defensive line is made up entirely of three-star recruits, and in the first three games they played like a group made up of three-stars. Notre Dame's offensive line is loaded with top recruits, including five-star left tackle Will Black (No. 17 in 2025) and Top 50 recruit Guerby Lambert (No. 42 in 2024). Guards Anthonie Knapp (No. 271 in 2024) and Sullivan Absher (No. 270 in 2023) were both four-star recruits, although a case could be made that Knapp has far surpassed a ranking that has him barely inside the Top 300. Notre Dame's line is talented, but it will need to step up and perform better in order to play to its reputation and the ranking profile we saw from that group. Defensive tackle Curt Neal (No. 459 in 2022) is the only Top 500 player in the DL rotation.

Notre Dame is also loaded with high-ranking recruits at wide receiver and tight end, although top receiver Jordan Faison wasn't even a three-star coming out of high school, which shows that rankings aren't determinative. 

NOTRE DAME DEFENSE VS PURDUE OFFENSE

The rankings on defense are more interesting, but once again Notre Dame dominates from a recruiting rankings standpoint. Purdue has two four-star starters and another four-star in the two-deep. Notre Dame actually has five players in the starting lineup that were either three-stars or were unranked (Luke Talich). Notre Dame's defensive ends, Bryce Young (No. 56 in 2024) and Boubacar Traore (No. 208 in 2023) are both four-star recruits. Its defensive end rotation is loaded, with a pair of five-stars in Keon Keeley (No. 2 in 2023) and Rodney Dunham (No. 17 in 2026) and another highly ranked four-star in Loghan Thomas (No. 194 in 2024).

Notre Dame also rotates in a pair of very talented linebackers in Top 50 recruits Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (No. 43 in 2024) and Jaylen Sneed (No. 35) in 2022. The backups were actually more highly ranked than the starters, but both Drayk Bowen (No. 103 in 2032) and Jaiden Ausberry (No. 184 in 2023) were still highly ranked four-star recruits. 

Starting safety Luke Talich, who is filling in for injured star Brauntae Johnson (No. 220 in 2024), is questionable for the game after injuring his wrist in the win over Michigan State. If he's out, his likely replacement is either Top 50 freshman Joey O'Brien (No. 35 in 2026) or sophomore Ethan Long (No. 531 in 2025). 

CLASS RANKINGS

Here are the class rankings of the two programs from the last five seasons (247 Composite Rankings) 

NOTRE DAME

2026 – 5
2025 – 12 
2024 – 9
2023 – 12
2022 – 7

PURDUE

2026 – 55
2025 – 87
2024 – 27
2023 – 70
2022 – 38

Advantage: Notre Dame

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