Notre Dame offensive lineman Charles Jagusah suffers season ending injury during fall camp

Troubling news has come out of South Bend yet again during fall camp for Notre Dame, with Notre Dame beat writer Pete Sampson reporting Monday that Fighting Irish offensive lineman Charles Jagusah has suffered from a season-ending injury. Tearing his right pectoral muscle during a practice last weekend as confirmed by On3’s Andy Staples.

The 6-foot-7, 330-pound redshirt freshman appeared in two games last season for Notre Dame. Seeing the field against Stanford in his college debut and starting in the place of first-round draft pick Joe Alt in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl versus Oregon State. Where he became the first true freshman since Alt in 2021 to start on the Fighting Irish offensive line.

He was expected to be a starter on Notre Dame’s offensive line at left tackle for the Fighting Irish following his true freshman season. Tasked with protecting the blind side of new transfer quarterback Riley Leonard and tabbed as the No. 6 most-important player on Notre Dame by the Blue and Gold’s Jack Soble. But unfortunately, he will now have to wait for the 2025 season to see the field once again.

Jagusah played high school football at Alleman High School in Rock Island, Illinois, where he was a four-star prospect ranked the No. 6 offensive tackle and the No. 53 overall player in the country for the 2023 recruiting class according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

“They’re saying all the right things about Charles Jagusah,” Blue and Gold’s Tyler Horka said to Staples in April. “I mean, he’s got the size for sure, the athleticism… He came to Notre Dame a little bit banged up, and that’s where the similarities to Alt kind of come in for me.”

“Alt came, and you’re like, ‘Okay, this guy’s not gonna play right away.’ Jagusah didn’t play right away because of the injuries. But once he did play, like he played in that Sun Bowl, it looked good; it looked the part. I think he’s gonna be a really good player at that spot.”

Jagusah’s injury follows defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio suffering a fractured foot early in fall camp as well. Which required surgery and will sideline him for multiple weeks this upcoming season. With sophomore linebacker Kahanu Kia also tearing his ACL during the summer, ruling him out for the entirety of the 2024 season as well alongside Jagusah.