NEW ORLEANS — A familiar face on LSU's offense is hoping to chase down a win at the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Wide Receiver, Ja'Marr Chase is just a sophomore, but already has made a name for himself. Eyewitness News spoke with his parents who say he has always had big dreams.
"The world is in his hands right now," said father Jimmy Chase.
Sitting comfortably in their Gentilly home, Jimmy and Toeleah Chase are a bundle of nerves. When asked who was more nervous for Monday's game, they both said they were.
Their son, Ja'Marr Chase, will start in the biggest game of his football career.
"I'm very proud," said Toeleah. "Extremely proud."
"All his dreams are coming true at LSU," said Jimmy. "Everything he wanted to do."
Considered the best college wide receiver in the nation, Chase is a Rummel graduate who originally didn't want to play football, but found a love for it.
"He actually went to Rummel to play basketball," said his dad. "They just gave him the ball and he just ran and nobody could catch him. He doesn't worry about running, catching, throwing, he just want to play and he's still like that today."
"I probably over the years wish I would've given Ja'Marr the ball more you know?" said Jay Roth.
Roth, Chase's former football coach at Rummel, says Chase was always destined to be great.
"He's just a freak of an athlete, a great athlete," he said. "One of his attributes is how strong he is. How he can go up for the ball, run through hard tackles. So he was always a hard worker, never took a day off."
Which has paid off. He recently won the Biletnikoff Trophy, which is equivalent to the Heisman but for receivers. However, the true test comes Monday.
"Oh I'm nervous every game at the beginning of the game," said his mother.
That's when their son will take the field as an LSU Tiger, and hopefully walk off a champion.
"When my son is happy I'm happy so that's all I wanted," said Jimmy.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.