SOUTH BEND — Saturday’s game against Navy won’t be Adon Shuler’s first time at MetLife Stadium, but it will be the Notre Dame football safety’s first visit suiting up as a player.

Irvington (N.J.) High School, where Shuler starred for the Blue Knights, is about 14 miles southeast of the NFL mecca, home to the New York Giants and New York Jets. Don Shuler took his football-loving son to MetLife for multiple NFL Draft events, planting the seed for future aspirations.

Before his final two high school seasons, Adon Shuler attended Media Day at MetLife Stadium along with North Jersey area prep football standouts. He remembers peeking into the empty locker rooms where the pros would dress on Sundays.

However, when Irvington defeated Northern Highlands for the 2021 state championship, the game was played at Rutgers while other levels got to earn their rings at MetLife.

“I was a little bummed,” Shuler said this week. “But now that I’m able to play there, man, it’s really a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to play at MetLife.”

Shuler’s dream season with Notre Dame just keeps getting better. Last week in Atlanta, playing at the home of the NFL’s Falcons, the redshirt freshman put the exclamation point on a 31-13 win with the first pick-six of his college career.

That fourth-quarter interception return covered 36 yards for the score. He had four of those his senior year at Irvington, noting the experience “wasn’t too new for me.”

None of this has been overwhelming for Shuler, who has started all season ahead of Northwestern grad transfer Rod Heard II. Shuler earned his first career interception in the season-opening win at Texas A&M, and he’s added 15 tackles and three pass breakups along the way.

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“He’s instinctive, he’s physical,” defensive coordinator Al Golden said of his fellow Garden State product. “He’s still learning. He’s still growing. But he’s always around the office, always studying film, always asking questions. He’s got a great look on game day. It’s never too big for him, even if he makes a mistake.”

Saturday will mark Shuler’s first exposure to Navy’s vaunted triple-option, but he got an in-person look at it from the sideline last season in Dublin, Ireland. Irvington rivals Union City and Ridgewood used a form of the Wing-T offense, but seeing Notre Dame safeties Xavier Watts and DJ Brown handle Navy up close was different.

“I just saw how serious it was last year,” Shuler said. “Seeing DJ and X be really detailed and not miss a key during the game and even at practice, it was like, ‘All right, there’s definitely levels to it.’ “

Saturday, back home in North Jersey, it’s Shuler’s turn to level up.

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Navy vs. Notre Dame football gives Adon Shuler a chance to play back home