Former Folsom (California) WR Rico Flores stars for Notre Dame in heartbreaking loss to Ohio State

The former 4-star recruit from Northern California gave the Fighting Irish a late lead over Ohio State with his first career touchdown

Rico Flores chose quite the moment to score his first collegiate touchdown.

With No. 9 Notre Dame trailing No. 6 Ohio State by three points in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game, the freshman receiver connected with Sam Hartman for a two-year touchdown to give the Fighting Irish the lead.

It was the second catch of the night for the Folsom (California) graduate and his first career touchdown at the college level. 

The freshman's milestone score came against a team he seriously considered playing for in Ohio State. The Buckeyes were one of the three finalists in Flores' recruitment, along with Notre Dame and Georgia.

Ohio State dealt Notre Dame a heartbreaking 17-14 loss on a one-yard touchdown run by Chip Trayanum with one second remaining.

Flores was the nation's No. 31 wide receiver and No. 225 overall recruit in the class of 2023, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.

Prior to the primetime showdown between Notre Dame and Ohio State, the Fighting Irish picked up a victory on the recruiting trail.

Daniel Anderson, a four-star running back from Bryant (Arkansas), announced his commitment to Notre Dame before the game on Saturday.