When Charles Jagusah's hopes of opening the season as Notre Dame's starting left tackle ended when he tore his right pectoralis muscle in training camp, others may have given up hope on the second-year lineman returning at any point of the season.

It was early August when Notre Dame’s projected starting left tackle suffered a torn right pectoral muscle and was ruled out for the rest of the year. But he didn’t look at it that way. The sophomore imagined a world in which he could return if Notre Dame reached the expanded College Football Playoff, and he attacked his rehab with that in mind.

Charles Jagusah could make his first start of the season, and only the second of his career, in Monday's national championship game.