Notre Dame safety Brandon Joseph is making a great first impression in South Bend.

He’s going through his first spring practice with the Fighting Irish after transferring from Northwestern this offseason. He’s off to a great start — Notre Dame safeties coach Chris O’Leary says he has an INT in each of the Irish’s first 7 spring practices.

“He has great instincts, great ball skills,” O’Leary told reporters this week. “The stuff you saw early in his career at Northwestern, it’s innately in him. We have to bring it back out.”

Joseph does have a history of finding the ball. As a redshirt freshman at Northwestern, he picked off 6 passes and had a pair of deflections.

His interception total shrunk to 3 last season, but he was still a very impactful player. In his career, he has 129 total tackles, 9 interceptions and 6 pass deflections.

If Joseph can be a star in Notre Dame’s defense, it could go a long way toward replacing former All-American Kyle Hamilton. Hamilton is expected to be a top-10 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Notre Dame’s spring game is on April 23.