“I was a redshirt freshman,’’ said the fifth-year senior and defensive cocaptain out of Woburn. “And the first game I played was at Central Michigan. I remember getting off the bus and seeing the ESPN cameras and saying, ‘Jeez, this is the real deal now.’ It’s a little bit different than showing up for a kickoff at Winchester High School.’’

The ESPN cameras (ESPNU) will be watching again tomorrow afternoon at Maryland’s Byrd Stadium as McLaughlin and the Eagles finish their regular season against the Terrapins.

It will be nearly the last hurrah for McLaughlin, the Eagles’ starting middle linebacker, and a core group of seniors such as offensive cocaptain and wide receiver Rich Gunnell and starting cornerback Roderick Rollins.

That’s the primary reason they spent as much time looking back this week as they did toward the future, which will include a bowl game, probably the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco Dec. 26.

McLaughlin has developed from a gee-whiz redshirt to an articulate and forceful leader on a team that is on the cusp of winning at least eight games for the ninth consecutive season.

Gunnell also made his BC debut against Central Michigan on that Thursday night in 2006. “Before that game, I was thinking I’m about to play and find out what college football is all about,’’ said Gunnell, who is second on BC’s all-time receptions list and third in total yardage for a receiver. “Now I’ve been through it all.’’

Gunnell reached another turning point midway through this season when receivers coach Ryan Day gave him some tough-love talk. “He was getting on me and how I had to step up my game to a different level,’’ said Gunnell, who responded with a career-high 179 yards on 10 receptions in a loss to Notre Dame and followed that with eight receptions for 134 yards in a win over Central Michigan.

McLaughlin, who missed the first month of the season recovering from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon he suffered last spring, has become the kind of player the Eagles want on their roster.

When asked what he had learned from his experience at BC, McLaughlin paused. “I would probably look first at the camaraderie of the guys,’’ he said. “I know it’s a cliche, but it’s to understand that here no one guy on the team is above anyone else.

“You look at a guy like Luke [freshman linebacker Luke Kuechly], who has been going through the roof with all the media attention and accolades and he says, ‘I wish they wouldn’t do all this stuff.’ He just wants to play football and be with our guys.’’

The core of “our guys’’ is a senior class that has maintained a level of success despite going through three head coaches in four years. “We graduated around May 14,’’ said McLaughlin, speaking about a group of 10 players who are taking graduate courses this semester as they wrap up their careers at BC. “And our summer [football] program started the morning after that. We were thinking, ‘Let’s get to work.’ ’’

McLaughlin has done that the hard way, with lots of work, sweat, and perhaps a few tears.

“I feel I’m back at a pretty high level,’’ he said. “To finish the season at 8-4 is still a pretty good season. We were still able to play for [a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game] until the 11th game of the year. We have a chance to be a nine-win team and that’s pretty impressive. People don’t realize there aren’t that many nine-win teams around.’’

For the seniors, nine wins would be the exclamation point on their careers.

“There’s a lot of ups and downs and a real rigorous growth process,’’ said Rollins, who has worked his way up from a special teams contributor. “I could see where I changed mentally and I could see where I changed physically. It goes by so fast. If I had to give anybody advice, I would say just take your time and enjoy it. I wouldn’t change it for any school in the country.’’