MILLBRAE, Calif. — The last time Oregon played Ohio State was at the Rose Bowl five years ago. Jeremiah Masoli and Terrelle Pryor were the quarterbacks. Ohio State won, 26-17, and Masoli lingered on the field afterward, watching as the Buckeyes celebrated. He vowed to work harder the next season.

Back then, Masoli was maybe in the best position in college football.

He was the centerpiece of Oregon’s high-powered offense, he had access to Coach Chip Kelly’s genius, and the Ducks had surrounded him with explosive talent. The next year, though, Oregon made it to the national championship game without him. Months after the Rose Bowl, he and another player pleaded guilty to second-degree burglary of a fraternity house. He was suspended indefinitely and later dismissed from the team after the police found marijuana in his car.

Last week, before Oregon and Ohio State were to play again, this time for the College Football Playoff national championship Monday in Arlington, Tex., Masoli hunched over a plate of pancakes at a restaurant outside San Francisco, not far from where he lives with his parents, and reminisced. He is 26 and set to begin his fourth year in the Canadian Football League, as a backup quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He seemed aware that his shot at a second chance at the N.F.L. was dwindling. He agreed to be interviewed partly because he will be a free agent at the end of the season.

He spoke as if he were using talking points aimed at N.F.L. general managers. He said he had matured in the last four years. He referred multiple times to a Sports Illustrated article that cast doubt on whether he had been involved in the burglary. The article indicated that Masoli had pleaded guilty because if he had gone to trial and lost, he would have faced mandatory jail time.