SOUTH BEND — Tuning in four weeks ago to watch Michigan win the College Football Playoff, CJ Carr couldn’t help but smile.

Already enrolled as Notre Dame football’s quarterback of the future, Carr was back in Saline, Mich., watching at home with his family.

“It was cool,” Carr said late last week at Notre Dame’s indoor practice facility. “My grandpa and my cousins were down there for the game. They were pumped. I was excited for them.”

Lloyd Carr, the last man to coach the Wolverines to a national title (1997) before Jim Harbaugh delivered on his way back to the NFL, was on hand in Houston. While in town, the elder Carr, 78, was honored with the Bear Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award.

“We could have gone,” CJ Carr said, “but there’s a lot going on.”

Before heading back to campus to go through his first winter conditioning program with the Irish, Carr watched J.J. McCarthy live out the fantasy of any quarterback from the Midwest.

Having met through a mutual trainer, Carr has followed McCarthy’s rise from Chicagoland prospect to Michigan legend. Even after rejecting the hometown Wolverines and charting his own path to a college football career, Carr couldn’t help but pull for McCarthy on the game’s biggest stage.

“It was cool knowing J.J. and kind of growing up with him,” Carr said. “It was cool to see him hoist that trophy up. You kind of put yourself in his (shoes) and try to, I don’t know, visualize that yourself.”

Carr smiled again before delivering the kicker.

“The dream,” he said, “is to bring that to Notre Dame.”

How close are the Irish to ending a drought that dates to 1988?

“I think we’re real close,” Carr said. “We have the players and the coaches to do it. … There’s just dudes everywhere.”

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CJ Carr, highly touted tour guide

Carr showed up in South Bend in mid-December and fast-forwarded his progression even more than the typical early enrollee.

He went through Sun Bowl practices with his new teammates, got settled into his new living quarters and the locker room and even started growing a scratchy beard. By the time 14 other members of Notre Dame’s 10^th-ranked recruiting class began to arrive in January, Carr found himself in the role of de facto tour guide.

“Not even football-wise but understanding what to do in the locker room — where you put your stuff,” Carr said. “That was a big advantage in itself. Not that I know everything. But being able to show the freshmen the basics of where to go, where to be, that was a huge advantage.”

Cam Williams, the speedy wideout who committed three weeks after Carr got the ball rolling in June of 2022, could see the comfort level increase for his fellow signee.

“Without us, he was not alone in a sense, but it didn’t feel like he was quite here yet,” said Williams, the four-star signee from Glen Ellyn, Ill. “I know now that we’re all here, we’re starting this journey together.”

For Carr, that means soaking up as much knowledge as possible from all sorts of new resources, including new offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock, quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli, Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard and holdovers Steve Angeli and Kenny Minchey; receivers coach Mike Brown and Loren Landow, hired last month to lead the strength-and-conditioning program.

As precocious as Carr often seems, whether on the field or in casual conversation, the 6-foot-3, 197-pounder has a refreshing self-awareness that should serve him well.

“Close the Gap,” the daily reminder from director of football development Amir Carlisle, has taken hold.

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“I don’t think I’m worried about the depth chart, where I’m at,” Carr said. “The goal is to come into the building every day and get one step better. The goal is to just close the gap every day. I’m not competing against anyone but myself.”

Another pause. Another smile.

“I have so much room to improve, it’s insane,” he said.

CJ Carr on recruiting rankings: 'I don't really care'

That’s not to say Carr lacks competitive fire.

ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports Composite all have him ranked in the top-50 nationally among the signing class of 2024, but On3.com recently dropped Carr all the way to No. 231. While the aforementioned trio has Carr rated among the nation’s top six quarterback prospects, On.3.com oddly bumped him all the way down to No. 16.

Does he ever clip and save such perceived slights? Maybe post them in his room or in his locker as future fuel for the long road ahead?

“No,” Carr said. “I honestly haven’t looked at rankings for two years now. As much as I respect the guys who do it, I don’t know how well they can evaluate anyone. That’s a thing that I don’t even think it would push me at all because I don’t really care what any of them have to say anyways.”

In that moment, he sounded a little like one of his quarterback heroes, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals. On his way to NFL stardom and the 2019 Heisman Trophy at LSU, Burrow had to overcome plenty of doubters, including those at Ohio State, where he got lost in the shuffle of a deep and talented room.

“The way he plays is really intriguing to me,” Carr said. “I like that he can move quickly inside the pocket. He isn’t a real fast, 4.4-type guy, but he can move around, make every throw on the field. He’s a guy I try to emulate my game after, for sure.”

Perhaps even right down to the cold-blooded persona known as Joe Shiesty?

“Oh, the swag, too,” Carr said with a laugh. “Little bit. I try."

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football QB CJ Carr works to 'close the gap' in first spring