Last week Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne wore a shirt to issue his endorsement of Michael Jordan being the best player in the history of the NBA.

On Monday, he called seven-time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady the “greatest player of all time.”

And it’s for that reason the junior Michigan State transfer quarterback has looked to Brady for inspiration as he enters the homestretch of his first season on The Plains.

“I’ve drawn back to something that Tom Brady said a while ago and I don’t know the exact quote, but he talked about, you know, he had won however many Super Bowls in his career, and he talked about how he still goes out and feels like he has something to prove every day and that his job is still up in the air,” Thorne said Monday.

Thorne turning to Brady’s quote comes after a whirlwind-of-a-season that’s seen him be named Auburn’s starter in August, be on the receiving end of plenty of criticism and share snaps with backup quarterback Robby Ashford – all before finally reasserting himself as Auburn’s starting quarterback these past two weeks.

And Thorne has settled in since cementing himself as the Tigers’ main guy.

“I’d be lying to you if I said it didn’t feel better,” Thorne said of not having to be a part of a two-man quarterback rotation with Ashford.

In Auburn’s last two games against Mississippi State and Vanderbilt, Thorne has graded well as the Tigers’ No. 1 quarterback.

Thorne has combined to go 37-of-53 through the air in his last two games, good for 424 yards, five touchdowns and an interception.

“I believe Payton’s skillsets are the most prepared for what we’re doing,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said Monday. “It’s not a negative towards anybody else, I think he’s — you talk about playing with tempo, setting our protections, throwing accuracy with footballs and understanding coverages, I think that he’s the farthest along in that.”

That said, as evident by him turning to Brady’s quote, Thorne isn’t getting too comfortable.

And based on some of Freeze’s comments on Monday morning, perhaps he shouldn’t.

After addressing what has led to Thorne becoming the lone keyholder of the Auburn offense, Freeze went on brief – but sudden and unprompted – rant about redshirt freshman quarterback Holden Geriner, who has long been regarded as the most “natural passer” in Auburn’s quarterback room.

“I think Holden had one heck of a week last week and he can really spin it,” Freeze said. “He’s probably one that — I think he’s got a bright future.”

Thorne said Monday that Geriner, who happens to be his roommate during road games, did receive a larger share of reps in practice last week. When asked what prompted that, however, Thorne deferred the question over to the coaching staff.

Given the results of the past two games, one would reasonably assume Thorne will be the guy under center for the Tigers moving forward.

But as Thorne puts it, if a guy like Brady always felt like he had something to prove and that his job was in jeopardy, why shouldn’t he?

“Why wouldn’t every player in the country have that same mindset?,” Thorne said. “So that’s my mindset every day going into practice and then obviously every game, too. You know just try to keep proving it, not only to your coach and your teammates, but to yourself too.”