Notre Dame Football Recruiting: 3 Recruits the Irish Are Hoping for on NSD

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly already has three of the top recruits of the 2012 class—QB Gunner Kiel, CB Tee Shepard and DT Sheldon Day—enrolled at Notre Dame, and he's got plenty of commitments from some of the most highly touted prospects in the country such as WR Deontay Greenberry, S Elijah Shumate, RB William Mahone and OT Ronnie Stanley.

Still, just because Kelly has already assembled what is shaping up to be one of the 10 best recruiting classes in the country this year, that doesn't mean that the coach is just sitting back and patting himself on the back.

Notre Dame is still in the mix for some of the best remaining uncommitted prospects in the nation, and you can bet that Kelly is doing everything he can to add a few huge last-minute pickups. 

Here's a look at three uncommitted recruits that Kelly would love to land on national signing day 2012.

WR Nelson Agholor

WR Nelson Agholor, a 5-star prospect out of Berkley Prep in Tampa, is one of the top uncommitted recruits still on the market, and he's the type of super-athletic playmaker that Brian Kelly would love to add to his offense. 

Agholor is the type of receiver who could make an instant impact at Notre Dame, but he's got a lot of big-name schools like Florida, Florida State, Oklahoma and USC that are still making a strong push for him. 

If Kelly can snatch the Florida native away from in-state schools like Florida and Florida State, it would be a major recruiting coup.

DE Arik Armstead

Arik Armstead is one of the most gifted and highly touted prospects in the 2012 recruiting class, but he's also one of the biggest enigmas. 

Rumors have swirled around Armstead's recruitment since he de-committed from USC back in October, but the 4-star two-way lineman out of California's Pleasant Grove High School has yet to tip his hand. 

Armstead is believed to be choosing from schools such as Auburn, California, Notre Dame, Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC, but it's still anybody's guess as to where he'll actually end up. 

The big and athletic 6'8'', 280-pound defensive end would be a great fit in Notre Dame's 3-4 defense, and he could end up bringing in brother Armond with him from USC if he does sign with the Irish. 

Still, it may be hard to pry the California native away from Pac-12 country. 

CB Anthony Standifer

With cornerback being one of Notre Dame's biggest needs going into the 2012 season, the Irish will take all the help they can get at the position. 

Brian Kelly has already been able to get 4-star cornerback prospect Tee Shepard on campus and enrolled in school. But now that it looks like one-time commit Ronald Darby is out of the picture, Notre Dame will be hoping that CB Anthony Standifer, a 3-star prospect out of Crete Monee High School in Illinois, will sign with the Irish to add some much-needed depth to the position. 

Standifer, who de-committed from Michigan back in December, paid a visit to South Bend this past weekend and reportedly enjoyed the trip, but he still has to clear up an academic issue before he can enroll at Notre Dame. 

If the talented corner can get it all straightened out, though, it seems like he's leaning towards Notre Dame as national signing day approaches.