Brian Kelly has had his share of standout receivers in seven seasons at Notre Dame, but none have produced better freshman numbers than what Kevin Stepherson has this season.



Through 10 games,the six-foot, 181-pound Stepherson’s 405 receiving yards and four touchdowns are already the most ever under Kelly by a freshman. Meanwhile, his 21 catches so far — with a career high five for 70 yards this past weekend in the 44-6 rout of Army West Point — are second to T.J. Jones 23 in 2010. That too should be eclipsed with at least two more games remaining.

Unlike past top freshman wideout prospects such as DaVaris Daniels in 2011 (redshirted), Chris Brown in 2012 (two catches, including a huge 50-yarder in a win at Oklahoma), Will Fuller (six catches for 116 yards and a touchdown) and Corey Robinson (nine catches, 157 yards and a touchdown) in 2013, or Equanimeous St. Brown (one catch) and C.J. Sanders (one catch) last year, Stepherson has had instant opportunity as a freshman. And to his credit, he has seized it.

First, Notre Dame lost four of its top five receivers from last season — Fuller, Robinson, Brown and Amir Carlisle — for various reasons. Second, as an early entrant in January, the Jacksonville, Fla., native was able to assimilate into the offense this spring ahead of pace.

His forte was catching the ball over the middle without breaking stride, but also displaying some home run skills downfield.

“I don’t know that we have a player on our team like K.J. Stepherson that can catch the ball at full speed as he cuts across the field — a very unique trait of his,” Kelly said after the spring game in which the rookie nabbed four passes for 70 yards. “He still has to work on catching the ball vertically down the field.

“But he catches the ball out of his break at full speed, and it is a unique trait that I have not seen since I’ve been at Notre Dame.”

In recent weeks, Stepherson's snap count has continued to grow as has his downfield skills, including a 53-yard catch-and-run in the win over Miami, a then career high four catches the next week against Navy, and then five more grabs against Army, highlighted by a 37-yard touchdown.

“He continues to mature as a player in the understanding of where he needs to be and getting on the same page with DeShone [Kizer],” Kelly said. “That's the most important thing — where is he going to be. They've got to know where each one of them is going to be, and I think that that's probably the biggest change in Kevin in terms of over the past five, six weeks.

“…There were other guys there that certainly could have secured down that position, but he won the job. We didn't give it to him.”

Stepherson’s freshman campaign might rank among the five best ever by an Irish receiver since 1972, when freshman eligibility was allowed for good by the NCAA. Here’s our top 10 list based not just on stats but also impact on the season:

1. Michael Floyd (2008) — The 2012 first-round pick holds the Notre Dame freshman receiving standards in catches (48), receiving yards (719) and TDs (7) — despite missing three games with an injury. His first career catch was a 22-yard TD against San Diego State in a hard fought 21-13 victory in the opener. He caught 10, two for scores, in a four-overtime loss to Pitt. His absence was conspicuous in a shocking loss to Syracuse (24-23) and in a 38-3 thumping at USC.

2. Tony Hunter (1979) — The future tight end and first-round pick grabbed 27 passes for 690 yards — a phenomenal 25.6 yards per catch — and two scores. Many of the freshman’s grabs during the 7-4 season were of the acrobatic variety that left many jaws agape.



