Garrett Nussmeier has some large shoes to fill.
The redshirt junior is entering his fourth season with LSU, but his first as the starter. He has the responsibility of replacing reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels, who was the second overall pick in this year's NFL Draft.
Nussmeier's Tigers are also the 13th-ranked team in the country, and with an expanded playoff, their odds of making it have obviously increased.
But the Tigers have had incredible success at the quarterback position in recent years. Before Daniels, it was Joe Burrow, who went No. 1 and is tied for the highest-paid quarterback in the league.
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But Nussmeier isn't worried about his predecessors. He needs to focus on the task at hand.
"I think pressure is a privilege. I’m blessed to be where I am. I don’t feel the pressure to try and be the next Jayden Daniels or the next Joe Burrow. I’m here to be the best Garrett Nussmeier I can be," he said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. "I feel God brought me here for a reason, and it’s my job to keep my head down, trust in Him, trust in His plan, His timing, and just do my best."
"I always feel like I’ve prided myself in my preparation, even as a backup and preparing like the starter. But obviously, there’s a natural, different feeling, just because I know I’m the guy that’s taking first snaps," Nussmeier said regarding his prep for this year. "I’m excited, to be honest. I haven’t been able to play football for a while.
"I’ve had to wait my turn and continue to work on my game to get better, and I think there’s a lot of preparation built up for this moment. And I think that’s why I don’t feel a sense of nervousness or stress about it. I feel like I’ve been preparing for this, so it’s an exciting feeling."
Nussmeier did get some key experience last year, though playing in the ReliaQuest Bowl has Daniels sitting out to prep for the NFL Draft. Nussmeier says that not only was it huge for him to get some game action, but it benefited everyone to "be able to play a full game together."
Side note: He also threw for 395 yards against Wisconsin in their 35-31 win.
"It definitely was a confidence booster. I hadn’t played in a while. It was my first start, to be able to get a win and throw for 400 yards and all that. It was cool," Nussmeier said.
"But that individual stuff doesn’t matter at the end of the day – it’s about us and how we’re gonna come together as an offense and how we’re going to produce. It was huge for us going into the offseason to feel that as a unit."
Although Nussmeier is in his first season as a starter, the quarterback says the bar has been raised, now that Brian Kelly is in his third year in Baton Rouge.
"We don’t feel like 10 wins is good enough anymore," Nussmeier said. "That’s what we’ve had in the past, one or two games away from being in the College Football Playoff. That’s what we’re trying to eliminate, is to eliminate those mistakes.
"We don’t want to be almost good enough anymore – we want to be in that conversation and in that pack. I think that’s a successful season for us, to really establish ourselves and say ‘Hey, these guys are a real threat,’ and to be in that ‘real’ conversation and bring LSU to where it has been in the past and in that conversation."
The Tigers have a tough test early on, as they head to Las Vegas to begin their season against No. 23 USC on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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