Indiana star quarterback Fernando Mendoza will look to win the national championship Monday against his home town team, the Miami Hurricanes. His high school is conflicted.

Long before he became the face of Indiana football, Fernando Mendoza was just another South Florida kid dreaming in the stands at Hard Rock Stadium. His father was high school teammates with Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal at Christopher Columbus High School,

Once overlooked, the quarterback kept pushing to Cal and now Indiana en route to the Heisman Trophy and one win from immortality.

The Mendoza brothers of Indiana are well aware of Miami's football tradition. They were surrounded by it growing up.

Ahead of the College Football Playoff national championship against Miami, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza and wide receiver Elijah Sarratt showed some love to their teammates. They gifted the Hoosiers adidas gear.

Miami native and IU quarterback Fernando Mendoza calls his mother his "biggest fan" in his Heisman speech. Elsa Mendoza has multiple sclerosis.

"Off the field, he was just a kid with enormous charisma. He was involved in everything, a book nerd. He loved to study. He put as much emphasis on his studies as he did into practice," said John Lynskey, CCHS former coach.

Motivation isn’t hard to find for Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza. It lives in his mother’s courage.