UGA is recruiting at such a high level these days that the Bulldogs rarely go head-to-head with Notre Dame to battle for elite prospects.

However, a couple of years ago, Notre Dame edged out a few schools, including Georgia, for a Bulldogs legacy – tight end Tommy Tremble of Johns Creek, Ga.

Tremble is the son of former All-SEC safety Greg Tremble, who played for the Bulldogs in 1992-93. The elder Tremble remains close friends with Kirby Smart, who arrived at Georgia one year after Tremble left for the NFL.

Back to the story: Even though the younger Tremble signed with Notre Dame, it still worked out fine for the Bulldogs two years ago as they signed a pair of tight ends (John FitzPatrick and Luke Ford) that were both ranked higher than Tremble.

In advance of Saturday’s showdown between UGA and Notre Dame, the younger Tremble was profiled by the IndyStar.com’s Mike Berardino.

Flashback to December 2017: It was a challenging day when Tremble had to call Smart and the other schools to reveal his college decision, per his mother: “Oh, my gosh, it was tough. We had really close ties with Kirby, and he was amazing in the recruiting process. We all called him on the phone together.

“Tommy’s a really shy kid, so that took a lot of gumption that day. But out of respect for Kirby, we made sure to tell Tommy how important it would be that he would call (Smart) and all the other coaches himself on the phone. We let them all know, one by one.”

Tremble is a redshirt freshman at Notre Dame, and is a backup yet emerging talent at tight end. He had a touchdown catch in the season opener against Louisville.

Tremble’s parents met at UGA, and they fully support their son’s college decision. But his mother admitted they sometimes wonder what if Tommy had stayed home to play ball.

“It pulls on your heart, right? We miss a lot. We definitely miss him a lot being so far from home. (Georgia) was all things we knew. You’d have this very familiar environment that’s really close to home and then you have some really unfamiliar territory really far from home.

“There were certainly many moments,” she says, “where we thought about, ‘Gosh, it would be great to have him here close by and knowing that Kirby would be looking out for him.’ It was definitely one of those moments where we had to reflect on what was the best decision for Tommy.”