Weekend visit preview: Ole Miss hosts Arch Manning, monster weekend for Notre Dame

Week 8 of the college football season is upon us and there are a lot of good matchups, which means top recruits will be flocking to campuses again for official and unofficial visits. On3 previews the top recruiting trips scheduled for the weekend and breaks down the most important visits.

Next stop on Arch Manning tour: Ole Miss

After having the red carpet rolled out for him at Georgia, Alabama and Texas, Arch Manning will be in Oxford this weekend to watch the Rebels battle LSU.

Manning – the nation’s No. 1 junior prospect and the third generation of Manning quarterbacks set to star in college football – will be the toast of The Grove. He is the most important visitor on an impressive list of prospects at the game.

After Saturday’s Ole Miss game, Manning plans to visit Clemson on Oct. 30.

The visit will be a family affair for Manning. Ole Miss is retiring the No. 10 jersey of this uncle, record-setting former Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning.

The battle for Manning’s commitment is shaping up to be one of the biggest in recent memory, and the On3 experts have made the first predictions in the industry on where he might end up. While the confidence level is low from most, there is a current consensus on the program most likely to land his pledge.

Manning not only top target visiting Ole Miss

The Rebels are hosting a good group of official visitors this weekend, including consensus three-star OL Matthew McCoy of St. Augustine (Fla.) Creekside, Syracuse WR transfer Taj Harris and consensus three-star CB Jarell Stinson of Opelika, Ala.

OM Spirit’s Ben Garrett has a more complete list of visitors, including information on some of the top juniors set to be on campus.

Monster weekend shaping up for Notre Dame

Five-star defensive lineman Anthony Lucas of Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral is the headliner of a long list of top visitors this weekend at Notre Dame. Lucas, who was at LSU this past weekend and will be at Alabama in a couple of weeks, will return to South Bend after taking an official visit on June 11. But Lucas isn’t the only big name coming in for Notre Dame’s game against USC.

LSU quarterback commit Walker Howard of Lafayette (La.) St. Thomas More will be on campus for an official visit following the news that LSU head coach Ed Orgeron will not return in that role next season. The Irish have started to put the full-court press on Howard, so it’ll be interesting to see where he stands after this weekend.

On300 defensive lineman Hero Kanu of Rancho Santa Margarita (Calif.) Santa Margarita Catholic will be on his official visit after returning from an impressive trip to Oklahoma last weekend.

Consensus three-star athlete Carson Tabaracci, who is moving up the charts quickly with recruiters, is also set to take an official visit to Notre Dame this weekend. Tabaracci of Park City, Utah, was on an official visit to in-state Utah last weekend.

Longtime Notre Dame commitment and On300 linebacker Joshua Burnham of Traverse City (Mich.) Central will also take his official visit this weekend.

Also scheduled for an unofficial visit is On300 safety Xavier Nwankpa of Altoona (Iowa) Southeast Polk. On300 IOL Billy Schrauth of Fond Du Lac (Wis.) St. Mary’s Springs will also be in South Bend. Intel says he’s leaning heavily toward the Irish and a commitment could come after this weekend.

Several coveted juniors are also set to be on campus, including No. 10 overall QB Nicholaus Iamaleava of Downey (Calif.) Warren and OT Kadyn Proctor of Southeast Polk.

Here’s a more complete look at the Notre Dame visit weekend.

5-star Walter Nolen set to visit A&M

Will the third time be the charm for the Texas A&M Aggies and five-star defensive lineman Walter Nolen?

Nolen, the star defender from Powell (Tenn.) High, will be in College Station this weekend for the third time since July. It’ll also be his second visit for a game this season. He was also on campus in late July, and ever since then, the Aggies have been surging in his recruitment.

So, this weekend could go a long way toward helping A&M further climb his list, especially an Alabama visit on the horizon for next weekend.

5-star Kiyaunta Goodwin heading to T-Town

On300 offensive lineman Kiyaunta Goodwin has always indicated he would like to take official visits, despite being a longtime commitment to Kentucky. That visit process begins this weekend with an official visit to Alabama.

Kentucky Sports Radio confirmed with Goodwin’s family that the 6-foot-7, 300-pound five-star will be in Tuscaloosa this weekend for an official visit.

Can the Tide make a move with Goodwin remains to be seen. Alabama has never stopped recruiting Goodwin. Tide assistant Doug Marrone has done a good job of recruiting him. Plus, Goodwin told KSR he’s talked to Kentucky native and former Alabama star Jedrick Willis about the Crimson Tide several times.

UCLA hopes to lock up Justyn Martin this weekend

Intel indicates UCLA has been the leader in the recruitment of On300 quarterback Justyn Martin of Inglewood (Calif.) High ever since the Bruins extended an offer earlier this summer. The Bruins’ offer was a big reason why Martin backed off an earlier commitment to Cal.

Ole Miss hosted Martin earlier this season on an official visit, and he said he really liked his time in Oxford.

But the four-star signal-caller has been looking toward his official visit this weekend to UCLA for quite some time. With a commitment coming at 2 p.m. Oct. 28 at his high school, the visit to UCLA makes sense from a timing standpoint.

The Bruins do not have a 2022 quarterback locked up and have zeroed in on Martin as their top target.

Martin will be joined on the official visit by two of his teammates – Bruin commitments safety Clint Stephens and running back Tomarion Harden.

There’s also buzz that Washington State consensus three-star linebacker commitment Taariq Al-Uqdah of Inglewood will also be at UCLA this weekend. With the Cougars looking for a new head coach, it’d only make sense for the Bruins to target Al-Uqdah.

Another potential visitor is consensus three-star cornerback Jomarion Briggs of Stockton (Calif.) Lincoln. He was due in earlier this season for the Arizona State game, but the visit didn’t materialize.

Iowa State hosting key RB recruit

One of the biggest games of the weekend is 6-0 Oklahoma State at 4-2 Iowa State. The Cyclones are using the opportunity for the national exposure of the game to bring in a top running back target for an official visit.

Iowa State is expecting to host consensus three-star running back Cartevious Norton of Waycross (Ga.) Ware County on a visit this weekend. Iowa State has been in on Norton for a while and was the first Power 5 program to offer him.

That focus has paid off and the Cyclones have a great shot at potentially landing a commitment from him this weekend.

The Cyclones are also expected to host a solid crew of underclass targets for the game against the Cowboys.