MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Before they had their first team meeting, before enduring their off-season conditioning program, before taking the field on Greentree for spring drills, before the grind of preseason camp and before they even played their first game, the goal was set.

Find a way to go 1-0 every week with the intention of stacking wins. If they could do that, they knew they’d eventually get to the ultimate prize: the opportunity to play for the College Football Playoff Championship on their home field at Hard Rock Stadium.

And if the Miami Hurricanes needed a tangible reminder of the work needed to get there, they got it on a sweltering July day when instead of training on campus, they went to the site of Monday’s championship game.

There, one by one, the Hurricanes ran the stairs at Hard Rock where each of their 16 trips to the stadium’s highest point brought them to a sign that marked each of the weeks they’d have to find ways to go 1-0.

There was Notre Dame’s logo, marking the foe that awaited Miami in its season opener. Florida and Florida State’s logos were there too, representing the Hurricanes’ matchups against their longtime in-state rivals.

Louisville and SMU’s logos were also there, though that day the Hurricanes didn’t know those games would eventually be part of a difficult midseason stretch that came close to derailing their championship hopes.

But beyond those were the logos for Syracuse, for Stanford, for Virginia Tech and for Pittsburgh, the four final regular season games the Hurricanes would win in dominating fashion which led them, eventually, to the College Football Playoff.

Every possibility was accounted for on that sign atop the Hard Rock stairs, from the Rose Bowl to the Sugar Bowl, to the Cotton Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl with one logo remaining: the CFP National Championship.

The Hurricanes touched them all and now, after the climb of 15 games, they get to return to the stadium they call home to play one last game with the highest of stakes: the chance to win the sixth national championship in program history if they can upset unbeaten, top-seeded Indiana.

The moment they – and so many Miami fans – have waited for is finally here.

“This is the stadium we all grinded in. We ran the stairs and we literally shed tears, sweat, blood, all that good stuff,” said defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. “It means a lot being able to have this opportunity to come home and do what we do.”

And for players like Bain and linebacker Wesley Bissainthe and running back Mark Fletcher Jr. and wide receiver Malachi Toney, all of whom hail from South Florida, Monday’s game is even more personal.

For years, they’ve watched their hometown program struggle through challenging seasons, disappointing losses and coaching changes.

Now, they – along with head coach Mario Cristobal, a former two-time national champion offensive lineman for the Hurricanes – can be among those who help restore Miami to its place among college football’s elite.

It’s not an opportunity any of them take for granted.

“I don’t have [any] words. It feels like a dream, just a local kid growing up in Miami, able to play the National Championship in Miami,” Bissainthe said. “[There’s] nothing else I could ask for, something I worked my whole life for. I’m very excited for this moment.”

Said Fletcher, “It’s a dream come true. … If you would have asked little Mark, would he be here right now, he’ll probably be like, ‘Man, no way.’ But it’s a blessing. Definitely just so grateful for this opportunity. I know [there’s] a lot of kids who would want to be in this position and the fact that I’m one of very few that’s able to do this at this level, I’m just extremely blessed. We are all extremely blessed to be here.”

But as grateful as they are to be in this position, the Hurricanes (13-2) know full well a monumental challenge awaits when they take the field Monday night.

On the opposite sideline is a veteran Indiana team that has won 15 straight and averages 42.6 points and 461.0 yards per game.

The Hoosiers (15-0) have outscored their two playoff opponents 94-25. And their high-powered offense is led by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who, like many of the Hurricanes, calls Miami home.

This season, Mendoza has completed 73 percent of his passes and thrown for 3,349 yards and 41 touchdowns. His 187.96 quarterback rating leads the nation, and he’s surrounded by a cast of veteran playmakers that have made an impact for the Hoosiers all season long.

The running back tandem of Roman Hemby and Kaelon Black have combined for 2,021 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns, while receivers Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt have each totaled more than 800 receiving yards and have 13 and 15 touchdowns, respectively.

Defensively, the Hoosiers have held opponents to an average of just 260.9 yards per game, a number that ranks fourth nationally. And their opponents have managed an average of just 11.1 points per game, which ranks second nationally.

They’re as complete a team as the Hurricanes have faced this season and Miami’s players and coaches know they’ll have to be at their best Monday if they want to be the ones leaving Hard Rock Stadium with the championship trophy.

“They’re a complete team. They are smart, physical, tough, fast, relentless,” Cristobal said. “Schematically, they’re challenging because of what they do to stop the run. Their back end, their entire team has elite talent. [They’re a] very experienced team. I think 27 players are in their last year of eligibility. … You’re looking at a team that’s extremely talented, coached really well and plays really hard. We could get into [it] for hours on what they do schematically, but those are some of the key components of them being such a great team.”

Added Hurricanes quarterback Carson Beck, “Obviously, they’re super, super talented. You can see the way that they play, they play really well together. Their chemistry is very high, and they’re very disciplined. They’re well-coached. Again, going up against defenses like that, [they] don’t make a lot of mistakes and are mostly in the right spot on each and every given play. It obviously presents a challenge for us. We’re going to have to go out there and just execute our plan.”

And Beck, no doubt, will be a significant part of that plan.

The veteran signal caller gained plenty of championship experience during the first five years of his college career at Georgia.

At Miami, he’s been among the national leaders in completion percentage (No. 2 at 73.3) and passing yards (No. 10 with 3,581) and throughout Miami’s playoff run, his steady leadership has been on full display.

In fact, it was Beck who helped engineer the Hurricanes’ final drive against Mississippi in the Fiesta Bowl and ran for the game-winning score to help Miami advance to Monday’s championship.

Fletcher and Toney have been significant parts of Miami’s offensive success all season too, with Fletcher rushing for 1,080 yards and 10 touchdowns and Toney – the ACC Rookie of the Year – totaling a team-high 1,475 all-purpose yards, including 1,089 receiving yards.

Miami’s defense, meanwhile, is led by its formidable defensive ends, Bain and Akheem Mesidor, who have combined for 19 sacks and 28.5 tackles for loss.

The two pride themselves on setting the tone for a defense that leads the nation in sacks (47) and allows opponents an average of just 14.0 points per game, which ranks fifth nationally.

“I feel like we’re a D-line oriented defense, so that’s good for me, great for us, really,” Mesidor said. “[Defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman’s] mentality of violence and his approach to swarm and all that stuff has been huge for us. We’ve been practicing it since January last year, a whole year ago. He just emphasizes violence, swarm, and excitement to be on the field every single day. I think that’s the approach we play with.”

Harnessing that excitement and channeling it into execution on Monday will be as big a test as the Hurricanes have faced all year.

But it’s one they feel ready to take on, one they’ve prepared for for over a year now.

The opportunity to play for a championship – at home – is finally here and the Hurricanes say they’re determined to finish the season in the best way possible.

“After our last home game in the [regular] season, we made a deal that we weren’t done with Hard Rock yet, so that’s going to be our last game at Hard Rock for this season,” said offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa. “We’re not leaving anything behind.”

Said Fletcher, “It would mean everything to us to finish it off where it all started from.”