Timpview senior safety Chris Badger will probably make history when he completes his high school career and heads off to play college football.

He is, as far as anyone can recall, the first player from the state of Utah who will join legends Knute Rockne, the Four Horsemen and Joe Montana by wearing the golden dome of Notre Dame.

"That's a big thing," Chris said. "For the rest of my life, I'll be able to say I played football for Notre Dame. They have such tradition and history there, plus they have a beautiful campus, very serene. It's a great honor, something I look forward to, to be able to play on a national scale."

But in electing to make a verbal commitment to play for the Fighting Irish, Badger had to turn around and tell Stanford and head coach Jim Harbaugh that he would not become a Cardinal as he had said he would earlier.

"There was no getting around it," the senior said. "It wasn't fun. You build a great relationship with coaches and so it was really hard. I had planned for so long to go play for them, but it came down to that I had a feeling that Notre Dame is where I would be happiest. I had to make a tough call, had to make the decision. It was hard, but I had to do it."

The process began over a year ago when Badger started getting attention from local schools. BYU and Utah were the first to offer scholarships, but as he had success in camps and on the field, the buzz became national.

"He got excited about Oregon and the better exposure of the Pac-10," said Dr. Rod Badger, Chris's father. "Then he got offers from Florida State and LSU and a number of other big programs. He visited Stanford and coach Harbaugh spent a lot of time with him. He said he was going there, which was exciting because the family has a tradition at Stanford and it's an outstanding opportunity."

The oral commitment virtually stopped the recruiting battles but Louis Wong, Badger's head coach at Timpview, had the impression that he wasn't completely certain of his choice.

"There was a point in time where I felt like his commitment to Stanford was soft," Wong recalled. "We had a Notre Dame coach ask about him and I told him to call Chris. The rest was to up him, but he was intrigued with Notre Dame, as most are who know about its history and tradition."

The safety decided to take an unofficial visit with his father and brother Troy last weekend. He came away excited about all of the opportunities in South Bend, Ind.

"It got me thinking when they called," Chris said. "I felt it was important to take a visit because I thought it would be something I'd enjoy. I went for the weekend and had the feeling that it was where I should be."

Chris plans to join highly recruited Hawaiian linebacker Manti Te'o as the only LDS players on the team that represents a Catholic university.

"There haven't been any LDS recruits at Notre Dame and now they are going to have two Mormons at a Catholic school," Rod Badger said. "It felt like a good fit for Chris especially because they specifically came after Chis for who he is as player. There's a need for him on the roster as a hard-hitting safety. They currently have six safeties, but three will be seniors this fall."

Wong said Chris is a talented athlete who learned well from those who came before and has worked hard to get better.

"He's been fortunate to have a good mentor in Craig Bills, who took him under his wing and taught him to be the guy," the Thunderbird coach said. "He saw how physical a player Craig was and he had to match that. They are very similar in regards to workout habits and routines.

"Chris is a student of game. He's a serious kid that works hard and will do a good job as the quarterback of the defense."

Rod Badger gave a lot of credit to Wong and the Timpview program for getting his son recognized for his talents.

"A lot of people in Utah have not gone out of state in the past but with Xavier Su'a-Filo at UCLA and Chris going to Notre Dame, maybe that will shift in the future," Rod Badger said. "People really look at Utah high school football in a new light now. Open enrollment has created four or five elite programs in the state and people love recruiting here because they can see the best players at one school."

While Chris is thrilled at the thought of being part of the Notre Dame tradition in the future, right now he simply wants to continue to grow the Thunderbird tradition in Utah.

"I know where I'm going and I know what I need to do," Chris said. "I want to help win another state championship and have another great season. I've never lost and don't plan on losing a game. We go to camp in a couple of weeks and coach Wong does a great job preparing us, so we plan to do what we always do and that's win."

The first high school football games will be played on Aug. 22.

• Jared Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@heraldextra.com.