Last Saturday’s win against rival South Carolina meant a lot to top-ranked Clemson, especially because it topped of the Tigers’ undefeated season. Now, Clemson is fully focused on playing No. 8 North Carolina in the ACC Championship game.

Here is what we heard in Monday’s interview session:

Offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain knows that Clemson has a lot on the line, but there is extra incentive for winning the upcoming game.

“I think that guys have to realize that we’re playing for a ring this week. Every other game has just been for fun, this one is for hardware. I think that is a little more of a motivational thing and to realize how close we are to our national championship dreams,” Mac Lain said.

Clemson has lost the turnover margin in half of the games this season, but co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott said that they are working on fixing those mistakes before facing a team like North Carolina.

“We don’t have to play perfect, but when you play a team like North Carolina that can score a lot of points on their side, then turnovers become even a bigger deal,” Scott said. “I don’t think we’ll ever experience a time where we have lost the turnover margin six times and win all six of those games. That is definitely not the formula that we are trying to keep on offense. I think what it does say is that we’ve got a team that knows how to win and we’re good enough to overcome some of those mistakes.”

Scott appears confident that the offense will be dialed in on fixing those mistakes by Saturday.

“The worst thing to do is to panic and things like that because then you get guys playing timid and playing scared, afraid to make mistakes. That is not who we are,” Scott said. “We want to be well coached and we want to play fundamentally sound and we want to go out and play with a lot of confidence and put it all out there. I believe last year, towards the end of the year, we fell into the same thing. We had some turnovers and then we went into the bowl game and we had zero and I think Oklahoma had five,” he said.

Quarterback Deshaun Watson is in the running to win the Heisman Trophy, but that is not his main concern right now.

“Right now it is about the team. Without the team, I wouldn’t be one of the finalists for those awards. It is not just me working and achieving those goals. It is this whole team. Everyone is pushing me, motivating me, and supporting me,” Watson said. “I’m going to embrace it, have fun with it. I’ve never been to New York, so it would be my first time. Me and my mom are going to enjoy that if we get that,” Watson said.

However, Watson’s teammates are as confident in him now as they ever have been.

“We’re in a high pressure and high risk situation, and he’s back there smiling and laughing. That definitely just helps us to be confident in our abilities to know that he trusts us enough to where it doesn’t matter what we’re faced with, he’s going to come up big and really just make that play that we need. The confidence level of us in him is at an all time high and I think that’s really going to help us,” Mac Lain said.