SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Freshman wide receiver Shaquelle Evans couldn’t believe it when he played the NCAA 2010 video game and discovered he was one of Notre Dame’s worst receivers.

“I was a little bummed out about that,” he said.

He probably didn’t feel much better when he saw he was listed last, too, on the school’s depth chart before practices started in early August.

He fixed the video game by using the controller to improve his speed and catching ability, making him the No. 1 receiver for the Fighting Irish. It hasn’t been as easy to pass Notre Dame receivers Golden Tate and Michael Floyd on the field.

But Evans is impressing Irish coaches.

“We felt like when we recruited him that our evaluation was we believed he was a guy who could play early in his career. So far he hasn’t disappointed us,” receivers coach Rob Ianello said.

Coach Charlie Weis compared Evans’ speed to Tate, the fastest player on the team. The Irish could use him as a backup to Tate or put him opposite Tate and make it harder for a defense to cover both speedy receivers, Weis said.

Ianello said the 6-foot-1, 203-pound Evans is deceptively fast because of his long, smooth stride.

“He’s chewing up some ground when maybe he doesn’t look like he’s running as fast,” he said.

Evans, who is from Inglewood, Calif., was nervous about learning the offense. He pushed Ianello during the spring to send him lots of information so he could learn it before arriving on campus.

As a high school senior, Evans caught 51 passes for 810 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior and played in the Army all-star game.

His biggest challenge has been going against Notre Dame’s defensive backs in practice.

“You’ve got to find different ways to beat them,” said Evans, who wasn’t used to going against players with similar speed.

The Irish have depended on freshmen receivers each of the past two years. Duval Kamara caught 32 passes, a freshman record for Notre Dame. Last season, Michael Floyd broke all of Notre Dame’s freshman receiving marks with 48 catches for 719 yards and seven touchdowns.

With Tate, Floyd and Kamara still around, Evans might not get quite as many opportunities.

He flashed a bit of his style during an open to the public on Aug. 15, making a touchdown catch and acknowledging the cheering crowd. He promptly got an earful from Ianello.

“When the game gets going and the intensity gets up, I get a little flamboyant,” Evans said. “I have different personalities on the field and different personalities off the field. You’ll see that when the game gets going, you’ll see the other side of me.”