Four 2018 Notre Dame commits appear in ESPN 300

It's never too early to start looking ahead.

That's certainly the approach by Notre Dame's coaching staff, which has already secured five verbal commitments in the 2018 class. Four of the five commits appeared in Thursday's ESPN 300, which ranks the top 300 prospects in the 2018 class.

The most highly ranked Notre Dame commit was 6-foot-6, 202-pound quarterback Phil Jurkovec, who landed at No. 55. He was followed by running back Markese Stepp (No. 158), outside linebacker Justin Ademilola (177) and defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola (241).

Only Miami (6) and Florida State (5) had more commits in the top 300 than Notre Dame's four. The five Irish commits are also the most the team has had this early in the recruiting process in the Brian Kelly era.

Outside linebacker Ovie Oghoufo, who committed to Notre Dame last week, was not featured in the top 300.