CLEMSON, S.C. -- In the beginning, there was the earth and the stars and Hunter Renfrow. Then, somewhere down the road, college football came to be.

Renfrow holds the unique honor of having redshirted on Clemson's 1981 national championship team as well as catching the winning touchdown for the 2016 champs. He has caught passes from Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence, and the only reason he didn't lead John Heisman's 1902 team in receiving is the forward pass had not yet been invented. His first jersey had Roman numerals.

So what if the record books show Renfrow actually spent only five years on campus at Clemson, or that his final moment in a Tigers uniform comes Monday in the College Football Playoff National Championship Presented by AT&T (8 ET, ESPN). The guy transcends time and space. During last week's Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Clemson's official Twitter account sent out an edited version of ESPN's broadcast and included the chyron beneath Renfrow's name noting he "has been a senior for the past 17 years."

This draws a laugh even from Renfrow, who has heard his share of these one-liners.

"Some people say they feel like their college experience has flown by," Renfrow said. "Not me. I feel like I've been here forever."

There's a reason for that. Renfrow has bookended this era of Clemson football, a through line from Watson to Lawrence, upstart to juggernaut. But more than that, Renfrow is a legend, and legends are timeless.

They made a movie about "Rudy," and he was only on the field for mop-up duty. Renfrow is a former walk-on who caught the winning touchdown in a national championship. Those old jokes about Chuck Norris? Yeah, Chuck Norris hangs posters of Hunter Renfrow in his bedroom. In advance of Monday's national championship game against Alabama, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney lamented having only one more game to coach Renfrow, which raises the question: Is Swinney going somewhere? Because Hunter Renfrow is forever.

Sure, there's some embellishment here. That's how mythology works. But it's not necessary, because the true life events are so mind-boggling, awe-inspiring and downright unbelievable that there's no need to pad the details.

The legend of Hunter Renfrow is real, and everyone has their story.

Hunter Renfrow was initially confused for a water boy during his first summer practices at Clemson. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Renfrow's first summer on campus, the team hit the field for offseason drills. Players were dripping sweat under the oppressive Clemson heat, and Eric Mac Lain, then a veteran offensive lineman, made his way to the water station, where he found Renfrow waiting with a towel and a Gatorade.

To classify Renfrow as a former walk-on does a disservice to walk-ons. The kid arrived at Clemson a wisp of a thing, maybe 150 pounds with wide eyes and skinny arms and no hope whatsoever of getting on the field.

"I walk up to him, and I'm talking to somebody else, and I stick my hand out, and I'm waiting for him to hand me the water or the towel," Mac Lain said, "and nothing happens."

After a moment, Mac Lain realized he'd been snubbed and gave the scrawny kid an earful.

"Dude," he yelled, "give me the towel."

A chorus of laughter erupted from the other players, who knew what Mac Lain did not. Renfrow was a freshman receiver, not the water boy.

"I was shocked," Mac Lain said. "He didn't look like the wide receivers I'm used to."

And, of course, Renfrow insisted Mac Lain take his towel anyway.

Renfrow was a Clemson fan since birth, and it's the only place he ever wanted to play. He had a few scholarship offers to some smaller schools, but even if South Carolina or Tennessee had come calling, he said, his heart was set on Clemson.

So the folks in his hometown rallied support to make it happen.

Renfrow's dad, Tim, was friends with David Bennett, the former coach at Coastal Carolina, and Bennett, in turn, was friends with Clemson co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott.

"So every Saturday," Scott said, "I'd have a voicemail from Coach Bennett with a Hunter Renfrow update."

It's not that Scott didn't see the talent. Renfrow was fast, and at camps, he always impressed. But Scott also saw what the rest of us see: Five-foot-nuthin, a-hundred-and-nuthin.

Five years later, Scott accompanied Renfrow to collect the Burlsworth Trophy, given annually to the best college player who began as a walk-on. One after another, folks lauded Renfrow's skill and heart and talent and determination and success, and eventually it hit Scott.

"I was the only one in that room that had a chance to offer him a scholarship," he said, "and I didn't do it. So that's on me."

Swinney has gotten a lot of mileage out of his own underdog story. He was a walk-on receiver at Alabama, won a national championship, found success despite never being the biggest or fastest guy.

Problem is, Renfrow's life has taken some of the luster off that rags-to-riches narrative.

"I can tell he's jealous of my career," Renfrow joked. "He thinks he would've had a better career than me if [Alabama] threw it more. He thinks I was maybe a step faster, but he has way better hands than me."

Dexter Lawrence is a massive human being. Last summer, he joyously announced he'd slimmed down to 350. He's a wrecking ball of mass and muscle and momentum. He is, quite literally, twice Renfrow's size.

So of course, on Lawrence's first play of his first scrimmage at Clemson, the unstoppable force was destined to meet a very movable object.

It was the spring of 2016, and Watson was leading the offense. On the first snap, he tried a screen to Renfrow. Lawrence was ready. He intercepted the pass and began his rumble down the sideline.

The last hope to save a touchdown: Hunter Renfrow.

"He comes out of nowhere and jumps on Dexter's back, trying to latch on to anything he could grab," Christian Wilkins recalled. "He starts at the top of his back and works his way down to his leg, and Dexter still ran for like five more yards before he finally fell."

It was like watching a chimp wrestle an elephant, and somehow the chimp won.

"I'll never get that image out of my head," Wilkins said. "Just another story in the legend of Hunter Renfrow."