TEMPE, Ariz. — Clemson has waited 34 years to play for a national championship, again. In three days, that wait will be over when the nation’s top-ranked team takes on No. 2 Alabama in the College Football Playoffs National Championship Game on Monday from Glendale, Ariz.

“This stage we are on, it is not only important to us, but to the program. This is a once in a lifetime dream that a lot of people dream about,” running back Wayne Gallman said.

But that dream can quickly turn into one of the Tigers’ worse nightmares if they are not able to at least have some success running the football. Alabama leads the nation in rushing defense, yielding just 70.8 yards per game and 2.3 yards per game. The Crimson Tide has allowed just six rushing touchdowns all year.

“Their linebackers, their defensive line – they’re a great defense. When you look at them, they remind me of our defense,” Gallman said. “I feel like it is going to have to be our best game of the year.”

Alabama’s front seven is considered to be one of the best in the history of College Football.  Led by linebacker Reggie Ragland (6-2, 252), the Crimson Tide defense has allowed just two teams to go over 100 yards on the ground all year – Tennessee (132 yards) and Georgia (193 yards).

“You can say they are pretty dominant from what I have seen on film,” Gallman said. “We are going to have to play with a chip on our shoulder. For me, I can’t make all those moves in the backfield. It is going to have to be one cut and go.”

The Clemson running game has to make an A as a whole if the Tigers want to leave Arizona with their first national championship since 1981. Gallman and the Clemson running game has been a big reason why Clemson is in this position in the first place.

Like Alabama has imposed its will on offenses with a front seven that has been intimidating everyone, Clemson has run the football with the same bravado. The Tigers have not run the football this well in a season in nearly 30 years as it averages 228.6 yards per game.

Three times this season, the Tigers rushed for 300 or more yards, including the last two games against North Carolina (319 yards) and Oklahoma (312 yards). The other was a 416-yard afternoon against Miami. Only three times have the Tigers failed to reach 200 rushing yards – App State (140), Boston College (112) and Wake Forest (171).

The last time Clemson (14-0) failed to reach 100 yards in a game came in the 2014 Russell Athletic Bowl when Oklahoma held them to 68 yards. But despite the Tigers lack of success they still stay committed to the run game and just took what they could.

It could be the same formula they use in the National Championship Game.

“I think it has worked for us thus far of being committed to the run,” Clemson co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott said. “In the bowl game last year, even though we did not have the statistical numbers versus Oklahoma the first time we played them, we stayed committed to the run.

“I think you have to keep (Alabama) honest. With the guys they have up front and with their depth, if you are not staying committed to the run and all you are doing is dropping back and passing, I think you are playing right into their hands. We have to keep them off balance regardless of what the statistics say.”

But as great as Alabama is on defense, it does have some weaknesses. Tennessee running back Jalen Hurd rushed for 92 yards on 18 carries against the Crimson Tide. Earlier this week Ragland told ESPN that Clemson’s offense most resembles the Volunteers’ because of the way they used quarterback Joshua Dobbs and Hurd.

Clemson of course likes to use quarterback Deshaun Watson as a complement to Gallman in the running game. Watson has rushed for 1,032 yards and scored 12 touchdowns this season, while Gallman has set a single-season record with 1,482 yards and 12 scores. Both are averaging 5.5 yards per carry.

Against, Tennessee, it was kind of a pick your poison kind of approach for Alabama. They choose to take Dobbs out of the running game (16 carries for 19 yards), but Hurd nearly beat them as he averaged 5.1 yards per carry.

The Volunteers actually had a one-point lead, 14-13, following a field goal with 5:49 to play in the game, but running back Derrick Henry scored on a 14-yard run with 2:24 to play to lift Alabama to a 19-14 victory. Tennessee missed three field goals in the game and turned the ball over twice.

“We are just going to have to believe in us. I know I’m going to do my part,” Gallman said. “The offensive line is going to do their part. If not, then it is going to have to take some encouraging and we are going to have to hype everyone up to really just do our best.”