ATLANTA – The run for the National Championship resumes on Sunday.

That’s when Dabo Swinney will bring his team back together for their first meeting since last Saturday’s ACC Championship win over North Carolina.

The first item on Clemson’s agenda: Clemson.

“We’ll put everything we’ve got into how we prepare. This is a time to get back to your fundamentals, your technique, be with your guys. It’s a time to really work on Clemson,” Swinney said on Thursday, during a press conference with the other three head coaches in the College Football Playoff.

“Obviously, you prepare for the opponent, but you also want to develop your team. A lot of these young guys develop these guys, get them a little bit of a head start for spring practice. We have a combination of all those things as we get into bowl practice, but this message is it’s a new season.

“It’s a one-game season. It’s our bowl season. The veteran guys on our team that understand what we do and how we prepare, that’s what we’ll start off on doing this Sunday.”

The undefeated Tigers are familiar with the stage they’ll step on in three weeks. They’re no strangers to the venue or opponent.

Before the creation of the College Football Playoff, Swinney guided two teams to BCS bowl berths, both of which were the Orange Bowl. And, of course, there was last year’s Russell Athletic Bowl against Oklahoma.

Since last December’s 40-6 win in Orlando, Clemson’s reeled off 13 straight wins.

“These guys have responded to all of the challenges. We’ve had great leadership. That’s been real key,” Swinney said. “We do have 40 freshmen and 28 of them played this year, but the leadership on our team was consistent all throughout. They didn’t always play perfect, but they found ways to win each and every week. It’s been a fun group, but they responded to every challenge.”

The building blocks for this season’s run were laid in 2008, when Swinney was named head coach on a full-time basis. Step two in the progression came three years later.

“In ’11 we won the league for the first time and won 10 games for the first time in 20-something years. That was great, a good place to start,” Swinney said, “But the message then was to, let’s see if we can kind of keep our head down and let’s see if we can put together three, four, five 10-plus win season together and become program.

“If you can be a consistent top 10, top 15 program, you’re going to have those years where you can put it all together. That’s kind of how it’s been for us.”