Throwout bearing pilot bushing?

[BFeller]

I went to dinner last night. When I was driving home in the downtown area, I went to shift and clutch pedal went down a little hard then felt it released way to easy. I could not get the shifter into any gear. Released the pedal in neutral and was able to make a hard shift into gear. The pedal felt very soft. I started getting a smell of the clutch burning. No feeling of the clutch slipping. I was then able to shift it fine when reaching the expressway. I took a route home that involved minimal shifts. The clutch smell went away. It was late so I only checked the master fluid reservoir to make sure that it wasn’t from a lack of hydraulic fluid and the level looks fine.

This morning I started the car, moved it in the driveway and it shifted fine. Since I was at my girlfriends, I opted to drive it home. It ran and shifted fine - no smells. No odd sounds. I am now sitting in the garage with the car parked over the lift. I am thinking maybe the clutch slave, throwout bearing, clutch fork may have an issue. I have a clutch and pressure plate sitting on the shelf.

I am considering swapping in a clutch slave and hose before dropping the transmission and doing the clutch. Any input or suggestions?

1998, 2.5, 5 speed. No other problems with the clutch have been noticed, a lot of highway miles, and just at 106,000 miles. I am the third owner, with the second owner not having put a lot of miles on the car. I put 30 to 40,000 on it mostly highway. I have ran more than 100,000 on a Jeep clutch and did not have heavy wear. So I don’t feel that my driving style beat clutches up.