When Brett Favre visited Clemson this past August to speak to the football team. Trevor Lawrence thought it was pretty cool he got to meet a Hall of Fame quarterback. However, the freshman admitted on Monday he did not get to see Favre play enough to really appreciate all that he did for the position and the game of football.

So, growing up, Lawrence was a fan of another Green Bay quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. However, his favorite quarterback is sure to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer in a few years – Peyton Manning, who won Super Bowls for the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos while setting a lot of NFL passing records along the way.

Manning is the reason why Lawrence wears the No. 16 jersey.

“I grew up a Tennessee fan, too,” the Tigers’ quarterback said. “My parents were Tennessee fans, so I grew up watching Peyton Manning. He was No. 16 in college so that is why I wore it.”

So far, Lawrence is living up to the number. Like Manning always did at Tennessee, Lawrence has Clemson in the national championship hunt this season. The Tigers are expected to be in the top 4 when the College Football Playoff rankings are released for the first time on Tuesday night.

Some feel Clemson (8-0, 5-0 ACC) will be ranked No. 2 by the CFP committee, which is where they are ranked in both the Associated Press and the Amway/USA TODAY Coaches Top 25 polls this week.

As for Lawrence, he can only be making Manning proud he is representing the No. 16 so well. Though he has started just four games, he leads the ACC with 16 touchdown passes and with an efficiency rating of 164.2. His 8.5 yards per attempt is tied for the conference lead.

This past Saturday, the true freshman threw for a career-high 314 yards and tied his career mark with four touchdown passes in a game, as the Tigers rolled to a 59-10 win at Florida State.

“I’m just seeing stuff more clear,” he said. “I feel like everybody is just playing together and the team chemistry is really good right now.”

Clemson will try to keep things rolling when it host Louisville this coming Saturday at Death Valley.