Clemson will look to end the regular season on a three-game winning streak Saturday with a victory over South Carolina at Memorial Stadium. Doing so would not only give the Tigers a record eighth straight win over its in-state rival but also keep them on the periphery of the College Football Playoff picture.

What does Clemson need to do to ensure that happens? Here are three keys:

Ground and pound

Clemson’s offense heads into the final week of the regular season still searching for that elusive complete game. But the Tigers’ best offense is the running game.

It’s hit a different gear of late. With 207 more yards on the ground against Miami, Clemson has rushed for nearly 750 yards in its last three wins. Will Shipley and Phil Mafah are morphing into a formidable 1-2 punch at running back, but quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei continues to be a big part of the success on the ground when he’s utilized. That happened more than ever this season last week when he ran for more than 100 yards (not counting sacks) on a season-high 17 carries.

Beyond the fact that freshman Antonio Williams and tight end Davis Allen continue to be Clemson’s only consistent threats in the passing game, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Going up against a Carolina defense that’s struggled all season to stop the run (188.4 yards allowed per game) presents the latest opportunity for Clemson to again lean on its ground game to set up its shots through the air.

Consider this, too: The Tigers are 76-1 in the Dabo Swinney era when rushing for at least 200 yards. Do that again Saturday, and Clemson has to love its chances.

Rattle Rattler

Carolina’s top two running backs, Christian Beal-Smith and MarShawn Lloyd, both missed their second straight game last week because of injuries. Whether or not either will suit up against Clemson remains to be seen, but in the meantime, tight end Jaheim Bell is getting some reps in the backfield to compensate.

In other words, the Gamecocks’ best bet to move the ball consistently against the nation’s No. 12 run defense is through the air.

Quarterback Spencer Rattler has potential as evidenced by his 463-yard, six-touchdown passing day against Tennessee last week. That makes it essential for Clemson’s front four (or front seven) to keep the pressure on in order to take Rattler out of his comfort zone. Clemson has done that as well as it has at any point this season in the last two games, notching a combined nine sacks in wins over Louisville and Miami. The Tigers are up to 32 sacks on the season, fifth-most in the ACC.

And Rattler hasn’t always handled pressure well. Before last week’s game, he had more interceptions (9) than touchdown passes (8) on the season. Those picks have contributed to 23 turnovers for Carolina. Only five teams in the FBS have coughed it up more. Make Rattler uncomfortable, and there’s a good chance Clemson could drive that number up even more come Saturday afternoon.

Even out the turnover margin (or come close)

This space has been used plenty of times to talk about how Clemson needs to cut the turnovers out in order to ensure victory. Yet the Tigers are somehow bucking this trend.

Clemson has lost the turnover margin in four consecutive games now after committing three more against Miami. If you’re counting at home, that’s 12 turnovers during that span. Yet, despite a combined minus-7 turnover differential over the last month, the Tigers are 3-1 in those games.

It goes without saying the Tigers would prefer not to fumble all over themselves. They would make life a lot easier on themselves if they didn’t. But Clemson has also helped shrink the turnover gap by getting multiple takeaways of its own over the last couple of weeks. Clemson forced two each against Louisville and Miami and finished just minus-1 in the turnover department in each of those games, which isn’t terrible considering the alarming rate at which the Tigers have been giving away possessions.

Clemson would love nothing more than to win the margin for a change, but if the last handful of games is any indication, the Tigers are capable of winning despite losing it. If the offense insists on keeping the turnover bug, then the defense needs to get some of those possessions back so that the margin isn’t so lopsided. That’s apparently good enough for the Tigers, whose lone loss came on a night when they didn’t force any turnovers against Notre Dame.