FORT LAURDERDALE, Fla. — When did Shaq Lawson know the 2015 season had a chance to be pretty special for top-ranked Clemson? Right after the Tigers took down then No. 6 Notre Dame on Oct. 3.

“That really defined where our team was at and how good we really were after that game,” the consensus All-American said. “The games before that I couldn’t really tell where we were at because we hadn’t played nobody good like that, but after that Notre Dame game, I knew our team was where we needed to be.”

After the win over the Irish, the Tigers really got going as they routed Georgia Tech, Boston College and Miami. The Miami win was a signature moment as well, as it got the rest of the nation to take notice as Clemson rose from No. 6 to No. 3 in the polls.

“I’d say the turning point this season, yeah, Notre Dame was one of those games. But I’d say Miami was really when we got really all in, and the plan really started to just flow together,” running back Wayne Gallman said. “We were good on both sides of the ball, so I think that’s when we started to get good.”

The following week, Clemson beat NC State in Raleigh and later debuted at No. 1 in the College Football Playoff Rankings where they have stayed all year. In the weeks to follow they eventually moved to No. 1 in both the Associated Press and Amway Coaches Polls. Now they are just two wins away from winning the football program’s second national championship.

“We tried to take it one game at a time really, just each game was just as important as the last one,” tight end Jordan Leggett said. “If we would have got beat by Wofford at the beginning of the year, I don’t think we’d be sitting in this place right now.

“We just took every game one step at a time, but it’s been a long season. In getting closer and closer to the playoffs and the semifinals, it’s been fun to talk about with the team just because we’re so close. We were about to be the No. 1 seed. We were excited, but we couldn’t get complacent or anything like that. We had to keep practicing with a purpose and go out there and win every game that we played.”

Clemson (13-0) will put its No. 1 ranking on the line in the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday against No. 4 Oklahoma at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla.

After the win at Miami on Oct. 24, which occurred at Sun Life Stadium, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney told his team they had a really good chance to return to Miami on New Year’s Eve.

“I just wanted to come to Clemson because I’ve been a Clemson fan my whole life,” linebacker Ben Boulware said. “I grew up thirty minutes away from here, and then going to the games. So I never thought about that, I just wanted to come to Clemson and hope for the best really, and it’s definitely exceeded my expectations.”

Boulware isn’t the only Tiger to feel that way. Leggett said he did not start thinking about the possibility of playing for or winning a national championship until they defeated Notre Dame.  Lawson was a lot like Boulware. He came to Clemson because he always wanted to be a Tiger, and now he is getting the opportunity to do something he never imagined.

“It’s been a special season for us,” the defensive end said. “As for me, I’m just enjoying the journey.”

A journey they all hope ends in Glendale, Ariz., on Jan. 11.

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