The Clemson Insider has learned from several sources in the last 24 hours that running back Travis Etienne is struggling with his decision to return to Clemson for his senior year or forgo it and enter his name into the 2020 NFL Draft.

Defensive back A.J. Terrell has also given his decision a second thought. Both players have until Friday to decide on their futures.

A source told TCI that Etienne is strongly considering a return to school. They said the situation reminds them a lot of the C.J. Spiller situation back in 2009 because Etienne has truly gone back and forth.

Spiller ultimately decided to return to Clemson for his senior year and had one the greatest individual seasons in Clemson history. He won the ACC Player of the Year award and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy race. He was also a unanious first-team All-American, just the second in Clemson history at the time.

Etienne has already won two ACC Player of the Year awards (2018 and 2019) and finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy race. In each of the last two years, he has earned All-American honors.

TCI was told by one source that Terrell had decided to leave school for the NFL prior to this past Monday’s national championship game. However, after struggling at times during the game, he is now giving more thought on whether or not to turn pro.

Terrell was beat by LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase on several catches in the national championship game. The LSU wide receiver caught nine passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns. He had catches of 52 and 53 yards with Terrell covering. His 52-yard reception went for a touchdown, but it looked like Chase should have been called for offensive interference.

Terrell played in all 15 games this season for Clemson, while recording 34 tackles. He also had two interceptions in helping a Clemson defense that finished fourth nationally in passing defense, third in scoring defense and sixth in total defense.

Terrell has six inceptions in his Clemson career thus far, to go along with 20 PBUs.

Etienne became Clemson’s all-time rushing leader on a 5-yard carry in the first quarter against LSU, breaking Raymond Priester’s record for career rushing yards (3,966). Etienne has 4,038 career rushing yards. Priester held the record for 22 years at Clemson.

Etienne finished the LSU game with 78 yards, and in the process became the first 4,000-yard career rusher in Clemson history. He joined NC State’s Ted Brown, Florida State’s Dalvin Cook, North Carolina’s Amos Lawrence, Maryland’s LaMont Jordan, Louisville’s Lamar Jackson, Georgia Tech’s Robert Lavette, Wake Forest’s Chris Barclay and Boston College’s A.J. Dillon to become only the ninth 4,000-yard rusher in ACC history.

If Etienne does return to for his senior year, he will have a real good shot to become the ACC’s all-time rushing leader. He needs just 565 yards to break Brown’s all-time mark of 4,602, which he accomplished from 1975-’78 at NC State.

Etienne finished the 2019 season with 1,614 yards, the second-best single season rushing mark in school history. Only his 1,658 yards in 2018 was better.

He also finished the season with 19 rushing touchdowns and four receiving touchdowns. His 23 total touchdowns rank second to his 26 in 2018.

Etienne also set the ACC record for total touchdowns in a career with 62 and the league record for rushing touchdowns with 56. His biggest improvement came in the passing game where he stepped up his performance as a pass blocker, while his 37 receptions ranked third on the team, as did his 432 yards. He averaged 11.7 yards per catch.

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