Christian McCaffrey announcement that he is leaving 49ers now another significant issue for team…..

Christian McCaffrey was on his way out of Levi’s Stadium on Sunday when a question perplexed him: How does it feel to be the NFL’s rushing champ

McCaffrey acted as if he’d been asked what the soup du jour was. As in, why would he care?

Now, he meant no disrespect toward the rushing crown, his first in seven NFL seasons and the 49ers’ only such accomplishment since Joe “The Jet” Perry finished first in both 1953 and ’54.

That’s awesome,” McCaffrey said after the 49ers’ meaningless 21-20 loss to the Rams. “But it’s on to the next step.

McCaffrey’s eyes are on what he has called “The Prize,” as in the Lombardi Trophy, which the 49ers are three postseason wins away from claiming Feb. 11 at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas.

A couple of weeks ago, McCaffrey stood at his locker and explained that game-day mementos don’t interest him. For exampleHe scored 21 touchdowns – the second-most in team history behind Jerry Rice’s 23 in 1987 — but he doesn’t display any of those footballs in his locker. (The equipment staff surely has stashed some of them, plus jerseys and gloves.)

— Each game he dons a new pair of size-11 ½ Nike Vaper Edge Pro cleats. Then he buries them in the pull-out drawer at the base of his locker. It’s stuffed to the brim with them. They’re out of sight, out of mind, and out of order.

Imagine encasing each pair in a glass shoebox and mounting them on a wall to truly commemorate the 1,459 yards those shoes covered to go wire-to-wire as the league leader, finishing 292 yards clear of two-time rushing champ Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans. McCaffrey acknowledged that might be a cool display. He doesn’t have the time or ambition for it, though.