CHARLOTTE — Tetairoa McMillan saw the camera and knew what he had to do.

The Panthers receiver had just scored his second touchdown of the night, a 10-yard dart from Bryce Young. That made it 22-16 in a game the Panthers would win 32-26, as McMillan was resetting the record books.

But in this particular moment, as McMillan inched closer and closer to Steve Smith's single-game record (he would end up just 9 yards shy), he recognized the moment for what it was and took advantage.

In Week 17 of the 2005 season, in a "win and we're in" quasi-playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons, Smith went off for nine receptions, 131 yards, and a touchdown, helping propel the Panthers to a 44-11 win. After his score, in true Steve Smith fashion, he put his face right in the lens and let everyone know, "If you see this face, I just scored."

After McMillan's second touchdown Sunday night, sending fireworks into the air as Charlotte hosted its first Sunday Night Football game since 2015, he jogged over to the nearest camera, stuck his face in the lens à la Smitty, and said: "Shout out to Steve Smith, if you see this face, that means I scored." And given it was his second McMillan got to add, "again!"

It was fitting the two were tied together in this way.

The only problem? Unlike Smith's moment in Atlanta 21 years ago, McMillan's moment in Charlotte Sunday night was taken as b-roll on the way to commercial; in other words, no sound.

"I ain't going to lie, I don't know why, I thought the camera had a mic," grimaced McMillan, "So it didn't even catch what I said."

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That was about all that went wrong for McMillan Sunday night, and for that matter, the Panthers offense. Young finished 29-of-41 for 329 yards and two touchdowns. By the end of the first half alone, McMillan had nine receptions for 147 yards and a score (which was a career-best game for him in a half, and the most receptions in a single half for any player in Panthers history.

McMillan finished with 14 receptions for 192 yards and two touchdowns, tying Muhsin Muhammad for the second-most yardage in a single game in Panthers history (Muhammad did it at New Orleans in Week 2 of the 1998 season).

Someone mentioned to McMillan at halftime what his stat line read, and it's when he first started to internalize the sort of zone he and Young were in against the Lions.

"So I'm like, we're doing something right now," he shrugged with a laugh, downplaying a dominant performance. "Offense is scoring; we're putting together drives. (Offensive coordinator) Brad (Idzik) is calling a hell of a game, and run games are going. Obviously, Chuba went for something like 120 (122 yards). I mean, everything was good for us, and that's all you can ask for."

The Panthers needed this game from McMillan for a couple of different reasons. First, he's their top guy, which means he has to take over games. But the offense was also without Jalen Coker (inactive with a quad injury) and Xavier Legette (placed on injured reserve Saturday with a knee injury).

Everyone knew Young would lean on McMillan, and a week after Cleveland's Denzel Ward smothered McMillan all game, Carolina drew up a game plan that would let their rookie of the year be the game-changer he can be once again.

"It was just a great job by the staff, coming together to make sure we're putting him in different situations, getting matchups right, and then from there it was just Bryce and TMac," said coach Dave Canales.

"A couple of Southern California guys, the lights will never be too bright for those two, and I was just really proud of the way that they came together today."

There was a point during the week this didn't seem a given. It wasn't a great week of practice between Young and McMillan, according to Canales.

"There were some misses," admitted Canales. "They had to work through some stuff and talk through it."

But then the duo came together, both after practice and again on Sunday night, to prove why Carolina took them both in the Top 8 of their respective drafts and has asked them to change a franchise.

"I've been a part of this before where you don't make a judgment on what's going to happen on Sunday as the guys continue to work and find that," continued Canales. "And then for it to show up like that tonight was beautiful."

Added Young, "When it's someone like that, I mean, I trust him so much; we have so many banked reps from these two years: offseason, OTAs, all that stuff. You practice enough, you're not going to get every route, but I know the player he is; he's special.

"I always trust him; that confidence is never going to fade. So, no practice one day is going to change that."

And when the Panthers needed one more play, it was time, once again, to turn to McMillan.

On third-and-14 from their own 32-yard line with 3:16 to play and the Lions having scored on their last drive to make it a six-point game, Carolina needed a first down if for no other reason than to milk the clock.

Young rolled away from pressure from Aidan Hutchinson, made an off-platform throw, and hit McMillan right in the hands for a catch that required McMillan to get his left foot down, drag his right toe, and ignite the Panthers' sideline, including Canales, who was right there to see the catch up close.

Lions defenders tried to wave it off, saying it was no good, but the coach knew what he saw.

"I knew it right away," confirmed Canales. "We went quickly right after that, but his feet were clearly in. He secured the ball the whole way, so I had no doubt in my mind it was a catch."

Four plays later, the Panthers still had to punt, but the first-down conversion helped Carolina milk another 1:04 of the clock and force Detroit to use their final two timeouts with over two minutes still to play. The defense forced a turnover on downs on the subsequent drive and from there, Young could take victory formation.

It was just that kind of night for McMillan, Young, and this Panthers offense that still had three other receivers pull in multiple catches for 30-plus yards each (John Metchie III, Brycen Tremayne, and Darren Waller).

"I mean, who knows, maybe just the atmosphere, the prime time moments," shrugged McMillan, the blissful naiveté of youth not letting him become bogged down under the weight of a franchise's history. "Everything just clicked tonight.

"And obviously Coach Canales just harped on it earlier, just, there's some plays throughout the week that we may not have hit on, but shoot, Brad called it tonight, and Bryce trusted it, and he made good throws, and we converted, so I can't tell you what happened tonight.

"Maybe it's just the Charlotte air."

Maybe.

Or maybe it's a franchise receiver, seeing the moment and seizing it, in a way only he can. If his admittedly short history to this point is any indication, it won't be the last time. Maybe next time the camera's mic will be on.