It was believed that former Notre Dame defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka played his last college football season with the Irish in 2025, but that might not exactly be the case.
That rang true when Tuihalamaka tested the NFL waters with Notre Dame’s Pro Day to see what his chances were in the NFL Draft. However, he suffered an injury during the work outs and subsequently wasn’t invited to an NFL mini-camp.
Despite the unfortunate timing for Tuihalamaka with his injury, he’s getting another opportunity to play college football. IrishIllustrared.com reported that over 15 football players, including Tuihalamaka, were granted a temporary restraining order (TRO) by a Louisiana judge on Wednesday to have one more college football season.
The lawsuit
is the latest in a long list of challenges against the NCAA’s updated eligibility rules, which gives current student-athletes a chance to play five seasons in five years. The guidelines also note that soon-to-be former athletes are only allowed four seasons without a redshirt.
The biggest and most recent ruling came on July 31 when federal judge Charlotte Sweeney granted an all-inclusive TRO for outgoing seniors.
Tuihalamaka played at Bishop Alemany (Calif.) before competing at Notre Dame from 2022 to 2025. Tuihalamaka has appeared in 54 games for the Irish and has recorded 61 tackles, four sacks, three pass deflections, two fumble recoveries and an interception.
It is currently unclear if Tuihalamaka plans to play for the Irish once again or transfer to a different program.
With the 2022 recruiting class being granted another year of college eligibility, there are players who’ve signed NFL contracts who are now looking into filing lawsuits that would allow them to return to college and possibly even transfer, sources tell me and @AYSSPORTS pic.twitter.com/FCLsjwGTsr
— Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) August 19, 2026
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This article originally appeared on Fighting Irish Wire: Ex-Notre Dame defender gets chance to play college football once again
