SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Riley Catena is from Greece, and just finished up his freshmen year at the University of Notre Dame. He also just became one of four official Notre Dame Leprechauns, the school’s mascot.

“Watching the football games on TV, you know, you always see the leprechaun — and I’m like, ‘I want to be that guy, that guy in the green suit. I want that to be me one day,'” Catena said. “So, it’s awesome to be able to finally say ‘I can be a leprechaun.'”

Catena, a big sports fan who played before heading to college, says it was always his dream to go to school in South Bend and to be one of the leprechauns.

“I think I’m still trying to process it. It still hasn’t really sunk in fully,” he said. “I think once next year I get on campus and I’m finally doing different sporting events, I think that’s when it will finally sink in, just to finally see my dream has come true, which is just incredible.”

You can imagine the thrill of it all when Catena got the news that his dream would become a reality. The Fighting Irish have their first home game on Sept. 7, against Northern Illinois.

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