CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Malachi Fields has snagged a pass in 38 straight college football games. The Charlottesville native and former Monticello High School and UVA star, has five touchdown receptions for Notre Dame this season, second most on the team. 

But Fields’ biggest catch of the year? That may have come off the football field. 

It was a 4-pound, 6-ounce large-mouth bass he hooked fishing with some of his new teammates in a neighborhood pond near South Bend, Indiana. 

“It’s good fishing out here, for sure,” Fields told Cville Right Now during a recent interview.

The Fighting Irish lured in Fields after four years at his hometown school, UVA. The past two seasons with the Cavaliers, Fields was a star, hauling in 113 catches for 1,619 yards and 10 touchdowns. 

The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder missed most of 2022 with an injury, had a monster comeback season in 2023 and was a third-team All-ACC selection last year. Some projected he would leave for the NFL draft. 

Instead, he went west to play for Notre Dame.

“It’s been a process just being somewhere and it’s not home,” Fields said. “Growing up in Charlottesville and being there for, what, 21 years, it’s been a little different. But it’s been awesome. Huge for my growth as a football player as well as just a man, just being out on my own, away from family, away from home, really.”

Fields didn’t know any of the players on the Irish roster when he made his decision to transfer, but he did have one connection in South Bend. 

Notre Dame wide receivers coach Mike Brown is a Charlottesville native and Monticello graduate like Fields. Brown, who played his college ball at Liberty and spent three seasons in the NFL, joined the Irish staff in December 2023. 

It didn’t take long for Fields to click with his new teammates, either. Especially his fellow wide receivers, Logan Saldate and Cam Williams. 

Saldate and Williams are both freshmen who came to Notre Dame from out of state – Williams from nearby Illinois and Saldate from far-flung California. 

But all three Irish newcomers bonded over their passion for fishing.

“Getting out on the ponds and lakes and rivers with them,” helped Fields get comfortable in his new home. 

On the field, Fields had an instant impact and steady impact. He caught three passes for 48 yards in his Irish debut, a 27-24 loss at Miami, and five for 77 yards two weeks later in a 41-40 loss to Texas A&M. 

Those are Notre Dame’s only two defeats this season. It’s won nine in a row going into Saturday night’s regular-season finale at Stanford (4-7).

Fields caught his first Notre Dame touchdown in Week 3, getting the Irish going with a 66-yard first-quarter touchdown catch and run. It went on to a 56-30 victory to start the win streak. 

Fields has put up his two biggest games of the year in November. He caught four passes for 97 yards in a 49-10 win over Navy, then dominated Pittsburgh with seven receptions for 99 yards and a pair of scores in a 37-15 victory.

This past weekend, in a 70-7 blowout of Syracuse, his 12-yard reception extended his personal streak of catching at least one pass in a game to 38. 

The Irish understand they’re in a fight for a spot in the College Football Playoff and winning big may be what it takes to win over the selection committee, especially with the early-season loss to Miami hanging over the club.

It’s extra pressure but Fields said he’s enjoyed the national spotlight that Notre Dame plays under week in and week out.

“It’s big-time ball, competing on a big stage nationally,” Fields said. “But it’s still the same game I’ve been playing since I was a kid. You try not to get caught up in the noise, but obviously, it’s a little bit bigger stage and there’s some bigger things around it. It’s cool having that stage, having the spotlight but you focus on the task at hand.”

And, if the pressure gets too much, he can always relax with a little fishing.