As a joke, Auburn safety Jaylin Simpson was asked what “Plankton mentality” meant on Tuesday afternoon.

The off-the-wall question that caught Simpson off guard was the result of him making an Instagram post the day prior with the two words acting as his caption.

And though Simpson couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that his social media page had become the center of conversation during Tuesday’s media availability, it quickly became clear that he was serious.

Having a “Plankton mentality” was a real thing to him.

“Since I’ve been knowing Plankton, dude just got one goal, man: get that Krabby Patty formula,” Simpson said. “He don’t stop, no matter what. Every episode, he on it.”

For those whose cartoon knowledge is a bit rusty, Plankton is a character from the children’s show “Spongebob Squarepants” and his never-ending goal throughout the show is to find a way to get his tiny, green hands on Mr. Krabs’ secret Krabby Patty formula.

While Plankton’s schemes are always thwarted, he’s relentless in his efforts.

And now Simpson hopes to act with the same perseverance as he and the Auburn Tigers approach the back half of the football season.

Having a 3-4 record and being in the midst of a four-game losing streak isn’t exactly how Simpson was hoping to spend the opening half of his fifth and final season at Auburn.

But Simpson refuses to get caught up in sulking over previous results.

After folding against LSU in a 48-18 loss on Oct. 14, Simpson and the Auburn defense did the only thing they knew to do.

“Put it behind you. Throw it in the trash. It just wasn’t our night,” Simpson said. “We got a lot of things fixed for the last game (against Ole Miss), and I think we played lights out the best we could. We had, like, eight three-and-outs, or something like that. Something of that nature, and that’s just in our blood.”

And now as Auburn prepares to head down the back half of its season Simpson is hoping the entire Auburn roster can do the same thing and leave what’s in the rearview mirror in the rearview mirror.

After the gauntlet-of-a-stretch the Tigers endured to open SEC play — which included playing three consecutive teams ranked in the top 15 — Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze met with his team Monday and asked that they not forget how much is left to play for this season.

“Basically saying flat out: Don’t disengage, and basically, just don’t quit on us,” Simpson said, echoing Freeze’s message. “Just keep going, having that plankton mentality. Just keep going. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Just don’t quit. So I think everybody’s just — things aren’t going our way, but we’re just, we’re going to keep going.”

Auburn is set to see the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon, which is the first conference game this season the Tigers have been favored to win. Auburn opened as a 4.5-point favorite on Sunday, according to Caesars Sportsbook.

(For those wondering, Simpson replied in the affirmative when asked if that meant the Bulldogs represented Mr. Krabs this week.)

After Saturday’s home game against Mississippi State, Auburn is set for two-straight away games – first visiting Vanderbilt, followed by a trip to Arkansas.

And as both the Commodores and the Razorbacks continue to look for their first conference wins, it wouldn’t come as a surprise if Auburn ends up favored to win both those matchups, too.

That said, Simpson says he and the Tigers couldn’t care less about what the bookies in Las Vegas have to say.

“At the end of day, it’s SEC,” Simpson said. “It’s SEC teams, anyone can get beat, anyone can win.”

But time is ticking for Auburn to reach bowl eligibility.

Needing a 6-6 record to become bowl eligible, the Tigers’ will need to find three wins among their five remaining games.

“We really want to play in a bowl game and that’s on the line right now if we don’t get our mess together,” Simpson said.

And for Simpson, that starts with mirroring the mentality of a tiny, green fictional character.

“We got to get that formula every game,” Simpson said.