CLEMSON — If this is Tuesday, I must be at left guard.

OK, so it hasn’t come to that for Clemson’s offensive line. Yet.

An already-young line has suffered through a rash of injuries through five games, prompting offensive line coach Brad Scott to push and prod his charges into various slots like a champion Tetris player.

The latest change came this week, when left tackle Chris Hairston’s impending return from a knee injury prompted Scott to try tackle Cory Lambert (who has starts at both left and right tackle) at left guard.

If Scott starts Hairston at left tackle and redshirt freshman Landon Walker at right tackle against Wake Forest next Thursday, it’ll mark the Tigers’ fifth line combination in six games, with Thomas Austin at center the only common link.

It should scare them, but for some odd reason, it doesn’t.

“The only thing you’re looking for is that cohesion factor,” Hairston said. “When you get into the season and start rolling, when you switch around guys, that cohesion thing doesn’t ever stop. It’s not like a whole new line, whole new process. It’s a small adjustment, and we’ve got to make things happen.”

Scott’s move of Lambert to left guard — which he terms “experimental” and “a possibility” is designed to put Clemson’s top five linemen on the field at the same time. Fifth-year senior Bobby Hutchinson performed well against Maryland — it was his first career start — but he was a student assistant coach when the season started, a move he requested when he felt he’d receive little playing time.

Lambert stands 6-foot-6, 310 pounds, while Hairston is 6-6, 315. With 6-5, 280-pound Walker at right tackle, the 6-3, 295-pound Austin said he felt “like a shrimp.”

“I was waiting for them to put (6-6, 305-pound freshman Antoine) McClain at right guard and have a pretty big O-line,” Austin cracked.

Now is the perfect time for Scott to mix and match, with Wake Forest still a week away. Lambert likes what he’s done inside so far. He’s matching up against big defensive tackles instead of pass-rushing defensive ends.

“They’re a lot closer to you, they’re right on top of you, you’re not on an island like you are at tackle,” Scott said. “He kind of likes that, I think. But he hasn’t gone up against those big-time 3 techniques. We’ll see how that works out here as we get more into practice these next two weeks.”

At least he has great players pushing him, Lambert said.

“I know I have to stay low, and it gets me lower in my stance and more prepared for what’s to come, going up against our defensive linemen, who have great burst off the ball and are real good at staying low,” he said. “We get to practice against some great players.”

If anything, the constant shuffling builds camaraderie and readiness.

“You’ve got to prepare every day like you’re the starter, no matter where you are on the depth chart,” Hutchinson said. “(Scott has) got me playing center this week behind Thomas and it’s one of those things. You have to prepare like you’re the starter, you never know when your number will be called.

“Last year against Florida State I was sitting on the sideline watching the game, enjoying the time, I wasn’t expecting to go in. Boom, Austin goes down, (Brandon) Pilgrim goes down, and I’m in against Florida State.”

Be ready for anything. Sounds like a good way to live.

“(The shuffling) is a difference, but it’s not as much a difference as the media or people on the outside looking in make it seem,” Hairston said. “It’s a small thing we’ve got to do, see who our best five are, and roll with that. If you’ve got your best five on the field, it’s going to happen, it’s going to come together.”