AUBURN | Payton Thorne has yet to take a snap at Auburn. He doesn’t know if he’ll be here one or two years.

But the Tigers’ starting quarterback knows exactly how he wants to leave Auburn.

“You always want to leave a place better than you found it, whether that's when you sit down and eat at a table, or when you show up and play football games,” said Thorne. So, my focus … revolves around winning. And there's a lot of things that go into winning.

“When you win, people remember you. When you win a lot of games, people really remember you. Doing everything I can to put myself in a good position for success, which ultimately helps our team succeed. You leave a legacy by doing things the right way, by working hard. And so that's what I'm focused on, and I believe that if I can accomplish that, then good things will come from that.”

Thorne, 6-foot-2 and 203 pounds, played in plenty of big games in three years at Michigan State, throwing for 6,494 yards and 49 touchdowns.

He understands the pressure of playing quarterback and competing against some of the nation’s top programs.

“Obviously, it's a big responsibility,” said Thorne of playing at Auburn. “We have a huge fan base. We have a lot of people that put a lot of time into this football program; a lot of people that care a lot about us. I take that responsibility very seriously, and I care about it more than anybody.

“I definitely understand the position that I'm in, and I'm blessed and thankful for that. And I think the best way to deal with that pressure is just to, for me and what I believe in, is I believe that my Heavenly Father's in control and if I turn everything over to him, then I'll be at peace with whatever happens as long as I do everything I can. I'm going to work as hard as I can.”

Thorne believes he has the accuracy and quick-thinking ability to thrive in Auburn’s up-tempo, RPO offense led by head coach Hugh Freeze and offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery.

He’s already put in many hours of work learning and preparing for the season and to accomplish his goals.

“My goal is just to win as many games as we can and to expect to win every time we walk out there, and I believe that starts with preparation,” he said. “So that goes to the daily and the weekly goals of being prepared every week for when we step on the field, and for me personally when I take that snap behind center, knowing that I've done everything I can to be best prepared for that game, mentally, physically, emotionally, all that stuff.”

Auburn opens the season Sept. 2 against UMass at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.