Notre Dame Star LB Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa Returns, Makes an Immediate Impact

Notre Dame star linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa played his first game since tearing his ACL against Syracuse last November, and made his pressence felt. Despite being on a “pitch count”, the junior backer finished with five tackles to tie Jaiden Ausberry for the team lead, and recovered a fumble at the Rice six-yard line in Notre Dame’s 52-0 win.

“Feel good. Feel good. Feel confident and grateful to come out healthy,” Viliamu-Asa said after the game.

The knee got tested early. On one of his first snaps, Viliamu-Asa was hit with a low block that resulted in a chop block flag on Owls that wiped out one of their few positive plays of the first half. He got up and stayed in the game. On the next snack, he shot out of a cannon and collected his first tackle for loss of the season.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that, but no, I got up. I had a lot of confidence coming back after that play,” he said.

Two drives in, he pushed Rice backward with a seven-yard tackle for loss. Marcus Freeman said he saw enough on that one play.

“Yeah, he made that play in the backfield early. I don’t know what down it was, but I kind of just chuckled a little bit. You know, I said, ‘He’s back,'” Freeman said.

Viliamu-Asa did not think he had gone anywhere. Asked whether the tackle for loss felt like his moment, he said, “Yeah. I mean, I felt like I’ve been here the whole time.” Then, referring to himself in the third person, he added, “He never left.”

What His Return Changes

Viliamu-Asa had 48 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, and an interception in 2025 before the injury ended his season. Notre Dame opened this season without him at Wisconsin, and Brian Jean-Mary’s linebacker room spent that week covering a vacancy rather than building around a starter.

“You know, he’s a great player. And it’s great to have his energy, his presence, the skill set, the playmaking ability. It’s great to have him back on that field where he belongs. But really proud of him. He did a good job,” Freeman said.

When healthy, Viliamu-Asa is not only just one of the best linebackers on the Notre Dame roster, he is one of the best linebackers in the entire country. He gave everyone a reminder of why that is the case almost immediately.

Ball Disruption Was Everywhere

Notre Dame’s defense led the way in Notre Dame’s blowout, holding Rice to 128 total yards and recovering four fumbles on the day while recording their first shutout in four years. Viliamu-Asa produced one of those recoveries himself, falling on a loose ball at the Rice six that set up a Notre Dame touchdown two plays later.

He tied the turnovers back to how the week is spent.

“Yeah, something we emphasize in practice is ball disruption because turnover margin, you know, oftentimes that leads to who wins and who loses games. So the practice reps we do to emphasize getting the ball out showed up today,” he said.

Adon Shuler set the tone before Viliamu-Asa had a chance to, forcing the fumble that Boubacar Traore returned for a touchdown 14 seconds into the game. Viliamu-Asa spread the credit across the defense before circling back to Shuler.

“Yeah, for sure. I think we all feel that way. But, you know, Adon set the tone and that’s just who he is. Makes a lot of big plays and definitely comes up in the trenches to do his job,” he said.

CJ Carr, who watched most of it from the sideline after the offense put the game away, put Viliamu-Asa in the middle of the defensive performance. “Kyng came up with a bunch of big plays for us,” Carr said.

Playing for Brauntae and Onye

Viliamu-Asa played the game for two teammates who were not available. Safety Tae Johnson and defensive lineman Jason Onye both left the Wisconsin game with injuries and are expected to miss multiple weeks. Viliamu-Asa wrote a message on his eye black and explained it afterward.

“Yeah. This was, I was dedicating this game to my boy Brauntae Johnson. You know, unfortunately he came up injured last week and for him and for Onye, you know, we wanted to go out and set the tone for them,” he said.

Michigan State comes to Notre Dame Stadium next Saturday night, and it will be the first “normal” week of game preparation this season with Viliamu-Asa in the middle of the defense. He got through the low block, he got through the snap count, and he got out of it healthy. As he ramps back up to full strength, expect to see Viliamu-Asa’s impact to only be felt more and more each week.