BYU did not need a depth-chart update to understand the scale of Saturday’s assignment. Notre Dame is 6–0, ranked No. 2 and scoring 44 points per game. What changed Monday was the number of defensive answers the Cougars may have available.

Raider Damuni and Isaiah Glasker were added back to BYU’s depth chart for the Notre Dame game, while Cannon DeVries and Siale Esera also have a chance to return. Running back Sione Moa is practicing again, although he is not listed on the depth chart. Kalani Sitake put the situation plainly: “Everyone that [has] started the game will have a chance to play this weekend except for Andrew Gentry and LJ Martin,” he said in a Monday update reported by BYU On SI.

That is welcome news, but it should not be confused with a promise that every returning player will handle a normal workload. A depth chart is not an availability report, and “a chance to play” is not the same as being ready for 60 snaps against one of the country’s most efficient offenses. The real gain for BYU is not simply getting recognizable names back. It is recovering enough bodies to rotate intelligently.

The numbers explain why that matters. Through five games, BYU is allowing 254.4 yards and 13.4 points per game, according to the Big 12’s official statistics. Opponents are averaging only 80.4 rushing yards and 4.3 yards per play. Notre Dame brings the opposite profile: 456.7 yards and 44 points per game, including 194.8 rushing yards, according to an Associated Press matchup preview.

That collision will test BYU’s depth as much as its starters. Notre Dame’s offense can make a defense tackle repeatedly, defend the width of the field and survive long enough to reach the fourth quarter. If Glasker and Esera can divide snaps at linebacker, and Damuni can join Tommy Prassas on the back end, defensive coordinator Jay Hill gains more freedom to vary pressure and coverage without asking a reduced group to play every meaningful down.

Glasker’s return would be especially important. He produced 67 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, three sacks, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble in 2025, according to his official BYU biography. Damuni made 43 tackles and intercepted a pass last season, while DeVries has already supplied 14 tackles in four games this fall. DeVries also has seven punt returns for 116 yards, a 16.6-yard average, meaning his availability could influence field position as well as nickel personnel.

That last point should not be lost in the injury conversation. Against a team with Notre Dame’s scoring profile, BYU cannot afford to treat special teams as a side note. One clean return can remove 20 yards from Bear Bachmeier’s assignment. One coverage mistake can hand those yards back. DeVries’ potential return gives the Cougars another way to create hidden yardage without demanding that an injured defender carry a full defensive load.

Moa’s progress is encouraging for a different reason. The redshirt sophomore had six carries for 22 yards in the opener and has not appeared since. His BYU profile shows modest college production—92 rushing yards and one touchdown in 2025—so it would be unfair to frame him as the answer to Martin’s absence. If cleared, however, he could take a handful of physical carries and help keep Preston Rex, Journee Tonga and Devaughn Eka from absorbing every running-back snap. In this matchup, five useful touches could matter more than a ceremonial return.

There is also a temptation to read the returning names as proof that BYU is suddenly whole. It is not. Gentry and Martin remain out, and players coming back from injuries may need protection from the very workload their presence seems to invite. The optimistic view is more measured: BYU may finally have enough functional depth to choose matchups rather than merely survive them.

What to watch Saturday is not just who starts. Watch how early Glasker, Damuni, Esera and DeVries enter; whether BYU can keep its front seven fresh after halftime; and whether DeVries resumes punt-return duties. Then watch the fourth quarter. If the Cougars are still tackling cleanly and disguising pressure late, the reinforcements will have done their most important work.