THIBODAUX, La. ― At the sound of the air horn, Jaxson Dart emerged from a huddle of campers and trotted over to the sideline. Even at the Manning Passing Academy, which collects some of college football's most talented arms to instruct at an annual youth camp, the Ole Miss football quarterback ranked among the brightest stars present.

And Dart, roughly two months from the beginning of his third season leading the Rebels' offense, did not hide from what his team hopes to achieve.

"The motivation is we want a national championship," he said between drills on Friday. "That's the way that we see it day in and day out. It's something that gets brought up on a daily basis with us and something that we truly believe that we can achieve this year."

Though the Rebels might not be the first team mentioned by those pondering 2024's national title contenders, it doesn't feel like an unreasonable target. Ole Miss ranked sixth on BetMGM's list of championship favorites as of Friday evening.

But it's one thing to set college football's mountaintop as an internal goal. It's another to express it publicly. Dart did not shy away.

"I just think it's something that we're super passionate and confident about right now," he said. "It's the reason ‒ I've said all along ‒ it's why so many of us decided to come back for another year. And then the guys coming in, I mean, why would you leave a school and come to a new school without the expectation of winning a national championship? So it's the mindset that we have. I feel it from a player perspective as well as a coaching perspective."

No player has been more instrumental in constructing the opportunity the 2024 season presents for the Rebels than Dart.

Last season, Dart matured into a top-level collegiate quarterback, fighting through bumps and bruises to throw for 3,364 yards, tossing 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions – cutting his 2022 total by six.

He proved an invaluable tool for coach Lane Kiffin as he assembled the Rebels' top-ranked transfer portal class, often using video games to forge relationships. Within a program that embraces transfer portal turnover, Dart is a key culture setter.

These are the actions of a settled quarterback. For the first time since his arrival, he's not competing for the starting job. And he's mastered a Kiffin offense that can come with a steep learning curve.

"I think the opportunity to be a three-year starter going into his final year is such a great advantage," Ole Miss legend Eli Manning said. "You know, just knowing the system, having been there a long time, you get to grow as a leader, know what plays you like, what you need to work on."

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That has translated into some preseason Heisman Trophy hype for Dart, considered among the 10 favorites for the award by most sportsbooks. He said he's heard from his teammates a bit about it, but team achievements are top of mind for him.

If he does his job, he said, the Rebels have the talent around him to reach their ambitious goal.

"I got good enough players around me to make my job easier than what it is," he said. "My job is just to get the ball in the playmakers' hands and for them to do the rest, and I feel like we have the roster to do that."

David Eckert covers Ole Miss for the Clarion Ledger. Email him at deckert@gannett.com or reach him on Twitter @davideckert98.

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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jaxson Dart embraces Ole Miss football's championship expectations