Between listeners of Rob Has a Podcast, the definitive all-things Survivor podcast, to Mike Bloom readers, anyone who does pre-season Survivor prep will likely have Jesse in their favorites for the season. Not only does he have the brilliance that it takes to obtain a PhD, in political science at that, but he has the resilience after coming up from a rough childhood.

He’s been through everything, and now, Jesse is playing for his family, and we know that he’s going to play hard. This clip solidifies that belief that Jesse will do well this season of Survivor. Let’s just hope this clip isn’t an omen that Jesse’s torch will be the first one snuffed.

Survivor 43 premieres on CBS on Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. EST with a two-hour special episode.