The Hurricanes should have their star receiver back in time for the postseason if…

The Hurricanes should have their star receiver back in time for the postseason if the recovery goes according to plan Sources tell CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz that the early feel on a return timetable is that Toney is expected to miss four to six weeks after undergoing ankle surgery. Depending on how the rest of the Canes' regular season plays out, they may not even need to risk playing him in that game.

If the Hurricanes can pull out a win over the Fighting Irish on Saturday night, it's hard to see them slipping up in the regular season. Their final three games are against Duke , Virginia Tech and Boston College , all of which are at home.

At this point, the conference title game may be more risk than reward for Toney and Miami. Even if Toney's recovery winds up taking closer to six weeks, that's plenty of time for him to be healthy for the College Football Playoff.

The first round doesn't kick off until Dec. 18, and if Miami earns a top-four seed and first-round bye, it wouldn't play until Dec. 30 at the earliest. With Toney out of the lineup, Miami will need someone else to step up and replace his production with Duke transfer Cooper Barkate being the most obvious candidate.