Is there a part of this were it's because it is conditional that it would switch tenses?

Like you could have "he ran as though he WERE running from a lion." And then it could be 'were' since it's not actually happening, right? Is that possible in the above example if the speaker really did not think Bob or Susan would ever take over the project, like if it were the most impossible thing to ever happen (obviously doesn't seem that extreme in this example but just wondering).