NOTRE DAME — After all the praying, all the mental wrestling, all the option weighing and draft position evaluating, Manti Te’o’s decision boiled down to one question: “Would it be worth it?”

Would it be worth it for the second-team All-American linebacker to stay at Notre Dame for his senior year or enter the NFL draft this year, projected as high as the 13th pick?

Even receiver Robby Toma wasn’t sure where his former high school teammate would end up.

“He was going back and forth the whole time,” Toma said. “It’s tough. Notre Dame is the place he loves and college football is an awesome atmosphere,”

There were a lot of factors that played into Te’o’s decision to come back, but Te’o said the icing on the cake came during the team award show dinner Dec. 9, just two days before he announced he’d return for his senior year.

“When I was watching that senior video, seeing my teammates run out of the tunnel for that last time, seeing them greet their parents, seeing some of them in pads and some of them on crutches,” he said. “I was always taught to make a decision on the worst-case scenario. And that would be my worst-case scenario, to come out on crutches.

“I had to ask the question: ‘Would it be worth it?’ That could happen, but would I still be happy with the decision? And I came to a consensus that no doubt. No doubt in my mind would it be worth it.”

Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said Te’o’s decision is a good reflection of how meaningful the university and the program are to the players.

“I think that more than anything else, our players understand just how special Notre Dame is and to get that degree and to play for Notre Dame,” he said. “It just strengthens that among your football team when one of your stars recognizes it, as well.”

Te’o netted 115 tackles, 13 for a loss and four-and-a-half sacks, as well as earned a finalist spot on the Lott Trophy and Butkus Award this season, but his numbers and accolades aren’t solely what makes him special to the Irish.

“His intangible traits are off the charts, also,” defensive coordinator Bob Diaco said of Te’o. “So he adds so much to the university, the student body. He adds so much to the team chemistry that it’s absolutely a huge, huge piece. I was overjoyed, absolutely elated to have another opportunity to be around him and be with him.”

Another factor in Te’o’s decision to stay on board is be his belief that he is not yet the player he wants to become.

“I want to be the best player I can possibly be,” he said of his goals for next season. “I’ve had a good experience being around my teammates, but I want to be the best player that I can possibly be. Get my instincts right, get my fundamentals, get that much better. I am going to be that much better of a linebacker come this time next year.”

In the more immediate future, Te’o is focused on the task of taking down Florida State quarterback E.J. Manuel and the rest of the Seminole offense in next week’s Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, Fla.

“He’s a big athlete that can run,” Te’o said. “With any athlete that can run, B.J. Daniels, Denard (Robinson), you have to be aware of their ability to run at you.

“They’ve got size, speed, whatever. It’s just another opportunity for us to get up there and play ball.”