Malachi Toney injury update: Early expectation has Miami star WR returning in time for postseason run

No. 1 Miami may be without star receiver Malachi Toney against No. 11 Notre Dame on Saturday, but the team hopes to have him back in time for the postseason. 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.

Toney suffered a high-ankle sprain in practice this week that will knock him out for the rest of the regular season, but the team hopes surgery will help the sophomore receiver return in time to chase a national championship.

Based on that timeline, the Hurricanes could get Toney back in time for the ACC Championship Game. 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.

Prior to his injury, Toney was building a strong case for the Heisman Trophy as he leads the ACC in receptions (73), receiving yards (1,027) and receiving touchdowns (13). 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.

It also helps that Miami has another Heisman candidate leading its offense at quarterback, Darian Mensah. Facing Notre Dame's defense on the road may be the toughest test Mensah has gotten all season, but he's made it look easy to this point, throwing for 25 touchdowns and just one interception.

Although the loss of Toney puts a damper on tonight's matchup, it remains one of the biggest games of the season. The Hurricanes need as much wiggle room as they can get with Toney set to miss the month of November, and the Fighting Irish clearly need a signature win after the initial College Football Playoff Rankings placed them at No. 11.