Jamaal Charles knows what it takes to win a national championship as a member of the Texas Longhorns.

The former four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro running back made a name for himself in Austin, Texas, helping leading the Longhorns – along with quarterback Vince Young – to their last national championship during the 2005 season.

Charles, who was a freshman at the time, ran for 878 yards and 11 touchdowns during his first season at Texas. The Longhorns defeated the Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush-led USC Trojans in arguably the greatest college football game of all time in the 2006 Rose Bowl, leading Texas to a 41-38 win over the back-to-back national champs at the time.

Fast forward 20 years later and the Longhorns are considered the favorites to win the national championship. A lot of that has to do with Arch Manning – nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning – taking over as starter for the first time.

“Every year, everybody wants to win – not just Texas – but everybody want to win a national championship,” says Charles in a one-on-one interview when asked if the expectation is to win a championship this year in Austin. “Everybody has that expectation. We should just take it one game at a time and let the road go that way.”

The former Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year preaches taking it “one game at a time” in order for the Longhorns to reach their ultimate goal of winning a national championship.

“We’re not playing the national championship in September,” says Charles. “Let’s play the national championship in January. Let’s just get one game at a time to get us there. I think the staff, and then everybody else they would preach the same thing I’m preaching right now.”

Jamaal Charles On Arch Manning: He’ll Bring A Lot Of Confidence To The Team

The Longhorns will be entering their fifth season with Steve Sarkisian as head coach. They’ve experienced deep runs with Sarkisian, advancing to the semifinal of the College Football Playoff in each of the past two years. However, Longhorns faithful are itching for their first championship in two decades after coming up close in recent years.

“Having Coach Sarkisian coach us the last four years, that shows you that what type of coach he is is to have a successful season every year he’s been here,” says Charles of Sarkisian. “That shows you that he’s just not a one-hit wonder. He’s shown that he can stack wins on wins, and put players in the best playmaker position to make plays. From recruiting, the way the organization works, to coaches to staff, facilities and training in the spring. Coaches, they’re all on board.”

The Longhorns return 12 overall starters from last year’s team, including five defensive starters from a unit that ranked third in the country. That combined with the inclusion of Manning – one of the most hyped college players of all time – gives reason to believe the Longhorns are ready to make the jump this season.

“We know last year we came up short, but seeing the kids on the field, they know we have a chance,” says Charles. “We got a good team, we have more experienced players, even though the kids haven’t been playing as much, they have more experience.”

Although Manning was the backup to Quinn Ewers last season, he saw a substantial amount of action, appearing in 10 games and making two starts when Ewers was injured. Manning posted nine touchdowns against two interceptions with four rushing touchdowns.

He also saw brief action during the team’s College Football Playoff run last season.

“Now just a different environment having Archie at quarterback, even though he doesn’t have a lot of years, but he had a lot of experience when Quinn went out last year,” says Charles of Manning. “He was able to play a couple of games and play in the playoff games. With his experience, I think he’ll bring a lot of confidence to the players on the field.”

Jamaal Charles Partnering With Bush’s Beans For Special Boots Drop

As Charles hopes to see his Longhorns win their first national championship in two decades, he’ll be keeping busy in the near future. That’s because the 38-year-old former star running back is partnering with Bush’s Beans as they unveil limited-edition bean-inspired BeanBQ Boots.

The boots feature color-changing heat sensitive leather and a mini can opener holster.

“They have thermite on the tips of the shoes when you go outside in the sun and it actually get hot on the side of those,” Charles details. “They also gave me a can opener too – I can open a lot of cans open. I can put this light, put it on the side of it. It hooks on the side of your boots.

“It’s a real accessory, a cool accessory to have on the side of the boots,” Charles continues. “I was able to put them on last week for the SEC media week and it was pretty cool. I had a fun time, and I enjoyed walking around in boots feeling tall.”

The release of the boots coincides with Bush’s Hot Honey Grillin’ Beans. Fans can enter to win a pair of the boots starting July 22 with a second drop on July 29 on the company’s website.