A key piece of Notre Dame football's offensive line is out for the season. What does it mean for the Irish?

Notre Dame football suffered a massive loss to its offensive line.

According to the team, Fighting Irish starting left tackle Charles Jagusah will miss the entire 2024 season with a torn right pectoralis muscle.

The injury occurred last weekend, according to The Athletic's Pete Sampson.

Along with Jagusah, the team also lost special teams player Marty Auer for the season with a knee injury.

"During practice on Saturday, Aug 3, OL Charles Jagusah injured his shoulder, tearing his right pectoralis muscle, & DB/special teams player Marty Auer injured his left knee, tearing his ACL," Notre Dame Football PR said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Surgery is upcoming for both Jagusah & Auer, & both are expected to miss the 2024 season."

Notre Dame’s offensive line is already undergoing notable turnover.

Both Joe Alt and Blake Fisher both departed for the NFL Draft, and were selected No. 5 overall and No. 59 overall, respectively. This put Jagusah, a Rock Island, Ill., native, in the spotlight going forward as the Irish's offensive lineman of the future.

Jagusah was a member of Notre Dame's 2023 recruiting class, and was the No. 1 overall recruit in Illinois. He chose the Irish over Michigan.

This injury halts the true start of his career, which is expected to be the next talented offensive lineman to establish himself in South Bend.

Jagusah played the majority of the Sun Bowl, which Notre Dame won handily over Oregon State.

What this means for Notre Dame

This puts the Irish's offensive line in a state of flux.

Notre Dame lost two NFL Draft picks in Alt and Fisher. That had Jagusah in line to start at arguably the most important position on the Irish depth chart.

Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard was injured last season against Notre Dame and needed two surgeries to recover. Protecting him is key for Notre Dame's College Football Playoff hopes.

Without Jagusah, ND will likely turn to either Aamil Wagner or Tosh Baker at left tackle. 

Sullivan Absher was behind Jagusah at left tackle on the depth chart, but starting a redshirt freshman at left tackle on the road at Texas A&M to start the 2024 season is his first college start is something that is not optimal on paper.

Baker and Wagner have college experience, which will be needed the most on the road in a stadium that can seat 100,000 fans. That's the definition of hostile environment.

Either way, this was set to be a new-look offensive line at Notre Dame to begin with.

The interior of the offensive line is more set with Ashton Craig at center and Billy Schrauth at right guard. The Athletic reported Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan will compete for the left guard position.

Craig and Schrauth played last season, but weren't full-time starters. Craig is taking over for Zeke Correll who transferred to N.C. State.

Will that experience be enough against the Aggies? That's to be determined.

Notre Dame has three weeks to make sure whoever takes over at left tackle is ready to go.