Skip to main content
Notre Dame
Join Now

Newsstand: Two from Notre Dame named to Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list

IMG_7504by: Jack Soble05/27/26jacksoble56

Two from Notre Dame are on an early watch list for defensive impact player of the year, the Irish announced last week.

Junior cornerback Leonard Moore and junior linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa are both on the Lott IMPACT Trophy watch list, which is an award recognizing “college football’s best defensive player in character and performance.” It’s named after Hall-of-Fame safety Ronnie Lott, who played at USC.

Moore was a semifinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, as well as a unanimous All-American and a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy, last season. Viliamu-Asa was not up for any major awards, but the advanced metrics have consistently tabbed him as one of the top linebackers in college football entering 2026. That’s assuming he returns from a November torn ACL relatively early in the season.

The Irish open their 2026 campaign against Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m. ET on Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisc.

Notre Dame Tweets of the day

Big-time edge rusher from New Jersey.

From the team’s director of scouting:

Nearly a decade…

Quote of the day

“He has explosive moves off the ball, and he plays against great competition at Bergen Catholic. Vaughn was a five-star as a sophomore, but is he still that as a junior? Yes, I think so. He’s not going to have to start as a true freshman. I still view him as a five-star recruit. 

“Physically, Vaughn reminds me of Ross Browner. I’m not saying Vaughn will become Browner, who was maybe the best pass rusher in Notre Dame history. But they have similar size, quickness off the ball and traits. Browner got up to 270 pounds, but coming into Notre Dame, he was 220 pounds as a true freshman.”

— Prep Football Report recruiting analyst Tom Lemming on new Notre Dame defensive end commit Jackson Vaughn

Headlines of the day