Cody Schrader believes this is a dream come true to reach the “biggest stage” in college football as Missouri gets set to play Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

“For me it would mean everything,” the Missouri running back said. “This is what we work for, this is what we dream of as little kids. Now we’re on the biggest stage in college football and now we need to just kind of go show it. This kind of leaves our legacy, this 2023 is special. Our whole motto this year was STP, but now it’s show time and I know this team is ready to go out and do what we do.”

Schrader’s one of the top stories in college football this season as he received zero Division I scholarship offers coming out of Lutheran South High School in St. Louis, and wound up at Truman State. Then after a stint at the Division II school, he was a walk-on transfer at Mizzou. This season, he ran for 1,625 yards and 13 touchdowns. But all that outside accolades and attention is put aside for the work at hand against Ohio State.

“The whole thing is don’t let the moment, outside distractions, that was Coach Drink’s message this morning, really focus in, dial in on what we need to do,” Schrader said. “Don’t worry about the stadium that we’re in, the stadium, who we’re playing, just focus on us being 1-0 and executing at the end of the day.”