Kevin Stepherson, Deon McIntosh Among Players Dismissed by Notre Dame

Notre Dame dismissed running backs Deon McIntosh and C.J. Holmes, wide receiver Kevin Stepherson and defensive lineman Brandon Tiassum from the Fighting Irish football program.

A Notre Dame official told Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com head coach Brian Kelly removed the four players from the roster Tuesday.

Stepherson and Holmes (shoplifting arrests) and McIntosh (violation of team rules) were previously suspended for the Irish's 21-17 victory over LSU in the Citrus Bowl on New Year's Day, per Laken Litman of the Indianapolis Star.

"I think this isn't anything out of the ordinary," Kelly said at the time. "It's just guys need to make good choices and I made it pretty clear that if you didn't make a good choice, then you were going to lose your opportunity to be part of what we're doing down here (in Orlando)."

No further information was immediately provided about Tiassum's dismissal.

Stepherson led Notre Dame with five touchdown receptions during the 2017 campaign and ranked third on the team in both catches (19) and receiving yards (359).

McIntosh served as the backup running back to Josh Adams. He finished his sophomore campaign with 368 rushing yards and five scores, and would have likely competed for the starting job next season with Adams entering the 2018 NFL draft.

Holmes and Tiassum played limited roles for the Irish.

Notre Dame will attempt to replace the lost depth with its 2018 recruiting class, which 247Sports currently rates as the eighth-best group in the country.