Minnesotan J.C. Hassenauer suits up for the final time as an Alabama football player

His freshman season was an outlier. Alabama only made it to the national semifinals, not the championship game.

The College Football Playoff has been in existence for four years. Hassenauer, a Woodbury native and former East Ridge High School standout, can provide his own oral history on the event. He's never been to a bowl game that didn't involve championship implications.

"It's kind of mind-blowing," he said by phone last week. "It's definitely unique. Our whole goal every year is to win the championship."

The Crimson Tide will shoot for another Monday night against Southeastern Conference colleague Georgia in Atlanta. Hassenauer likely will start at right guard in place of Lester Cotton, who was ruled out by Tide coach Nick Saban after suffering a leg injury in the semifinals against Clemson.

Hassenauer has been a utility offensive lineman and spot starter throughout his career, playing both guard spots and center. Starting in the national championship would complete a vision that took shape when he was a 180-pound freshman at East Ridge.

Back then, he put Alabama at the top of his bucket list, which might have sounded crazy because he wasn't a hot-shot, five-star recruit. He was resolute in his goal.

"I wanted to be part of that success," he said.

That was music to Hassenauer's ears since he loves the weight room.

"It was definitely a lot of motivation when you're 17 years old meeting with Coach Saban, telling me to gain weight," he said. "I took that to heart."

Hassenauer began training at ETS Elite in Oakdale as a high school freshman. The gym's founder, Ryan Englebert, said Hassenauer was so committed that he would train several times a week during football season after practice.

"I've been in this industry for 15 years and he's one of the top-five hardest-working, most dedicated athletes that I've ever been around," Englebert said.

Hassenauer returned to Alabama's camp before his senior year at 295 pounds and Saban offered him a scholarship. Saban is a recruiting master who replenishes his roster with five-star talent every year. Hassenauer wasn't intimidated.

Saban created a dynasty by never becoming satisfied with success. The guy probably makes recruiting calls 15 minutes after confetti drops on a national championship. Saban comes across as cheerful as an IRS audit, but Hassenauer has a little secret.

"Surprisingly, he's kind of funny," he said.

Saban? A comedian?

"He'll throw in some good one-liners in a team meeting," he said. "He'll surprise you with something that cracks up the whole team. He has dry humor that coming from him makes it so much funnier than coming from anyone else."

Hassenauer has played in 23 games as a top reserve. In that span, Alabama has had 24 players selected in the NFL draft, including four offensive linemen and 13 defensive players.

"He's just tough and nasty when it comes to playing football," Pendino said. "You put him between those lines and the switch comes on."

That switch will come on one more time in college Monday night. Hassenauer plans to pursue an NFL career, but he also has a solid backup plan.

He earned a degree in exercise science in three years and is working on his master's in marketing. He carries a 3.667 grade-point average as a graduate student and has made the dean's list multiple times.

He has a chance to add a second national championship to his résumé.

"Big game, a lot of stake, but it's just one more game for us," he said. "We don't need to play anxious."

Chip Scoggins chip.scoggins@startribune.com