BLOOMINGTON — As Indiana’s historic season has unfolded across the last several weeks, a minor urban legend has taken hold here in Bloomington.

It’s been said that, on more than one occasion, team staffers checking in on the football offices late into the evening have found one light on, and one man working under its glare.

There, they discover Fernando Mendoza — a quarterback Curt Cignetti repeatedly describes as among the hardest-working he’s ever coached — combing through film and studying keys, long after teammates and even coaches have gone home.

It turns out this is the product of a scheduling quirk. Mendoza, who graduated from Cal-Berkeley with a business degree in just three years, maintains a strict and detailed daily schedule. One that often includes evening film study and solo preparation.

Most of the time, Mendoza told IndyStar, his day concludes somewhere between 9 and 9:30 p.m., when he returns to the off-campus apartment he shares with his brother and backup, Alberto.

But on Thursdays, Mendoza makes a point to take his offensive line out to dinner. Never one to abbreviate that routine, Mendoza pushes those end-of-day sessions a little later in the evening.

Usually, his Thursdays wrap sometime between 10 and 11 p.m. He’ll lengthen his day before he shortens his process.

As Mendoza’s first — and perhaps only — season in Bloomington matures, more and more teammates, coaches and fans are coming to appreciate the meticulousness with which he approaches his job, one he is doing just about as well as any player in the country right now.

After another superlative performance Saturday afternoon, one interrupted by lightning but never Michigan State, it’s fair now to start believing the answer to the question, “Can Fernando Mendoza win the Heisman Trophy?” is, in fact, yes.

“Don’t ever tell him I said this, because he hates hearing stuff like this,” wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. said. “I feel like we’ve got the best quarterback in college football.”

IU students certainly made up their minds Saturday evening when, near the conclusion of a rain-soaked 38-13 homecoming victory over Michigan State, they began “HeisMendoza.”

Or maybe it’s “Heisman-doza.” We have time to work out the spelling, but the conversation needs having. Because Mendoza, who on Saturday helped Indiana retain the Old Brass Spittoon for the first time since 1969, certainly looks the part.

The redshirt junior widely considered among the best NFL prospects at his position in this draft class before the season began has done little to temper those expectations across the Hoosiers’ 7-0 (4-0 in Big Ten play) start.

He was ruthless against Illinois. He delivered game-winning moments in hard-fought victories at Iowa and at Oregon. And on Saturday, he unpacked Michigan State’s defense to the tune of 24 of 28, for 332 yards and four touchdowns.

Mendoza was not sacked once. He mixed in a handful of important quarterback runs, including one that converted a key third down. And he saved his best for his last, Mendoza’s final touchdown pass a 27-yarder dropped into a bucket, right on Elijah Sarratt’s facemask.

“This is the sharpest we’ve seen him, up to this point, in a game,” Cignetti said. “He continues to improve. He continues to prepare like nobody I’ve ever been around, and he’s getting better and better.”