Mentors, the good ones anyway, always want their charges to go one better than they did.

“Not to say it’s slam-dunk/hands-down his,’’ hedges Jeff Garcia.

“But the East really hasn’t turned out a quality team this year, let alone a player who’s had a season remotely like his.

“I mean, this guy has worked his tail off, put up great numbers, his team has an amazing record.

“And he’s the catalyst for that.”

Wednesday, Bo Levi Mitchell, the unstoppable quarterback from Katy, Tex., was one one of nine Calgary Stampeders named to the West Division all-star team.

As a follow-up Thursday, Mitchell repeated as the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy winner as the divisional most outstanding player nominee.

A year ago, he received an embossed invite to the fancy awards soirée, too, only to lose MOP honours to evergreen Henry Burris of the Ottawa RedBlacks.

Given Smilin’ Hank’s renaissance performance, effervescent personality, historical CFL context and, it must be said, superb season in reigniting football fever in our nation’s capital, Mitchell always figured to be second best in that duel.

He himself admitted as much.

This time, though, he goes in a prohibitive favourite to be not only the winner, but a unanimous one.

The East nominee, Ottawa pass-catcher Ernest Jackson, finished seventh in receiving yards (1,225) with 10 TD catches.

A nice season, but …

In establishing a career high in passing yardage (5,385), leading the league in TD passes (32) and posting a 107.9 quarterback rating as the Stamps flirted with history, going 15-2-1, Mitchell treated McMahon Stadium habitués to one of the finest quarterbacking turns ever seen in red-and-white.

His support goes as far south as San Diego, Calif., where Jeff Garcia has hung his helmet.

The Garcia-Bo Levi Mitchell connection dates back a few years, of course.

Dave Dickenson, Jeff Garcia and Bo Levi Mitchell before a game in 2014

At the behest of then Stampeders offensive coordinator Dave Dickenson, Mitchell famously paid his own way to SoCal to attend a month-long off-season quarterbacking academy run by the Garcia, the five-year Stampeder and four-time NFL Pro Bowler.

The two men hit it off. Kindred professional spirits.

Both have a Grey Cup ring in their curio cabinets and a Grey Cup MVP citation. Garcia was a four-time West all-star. Wednesday marked Mitchell’s such second selection.

They’ve often been compared on the field, both stylistically and temperamentally.

“Bo has worked extremely hard to get where he is today,’’ lauds Garcia. “The guy is a consummate pro. A leader. Scrappy. You see the intensity on his face. And the enjoyment. He’s having fun.

“A great approach to the game.

“You can’t help but gravitate to towards that as a fellow player.

“It’s important to him to be the best. He dedicates himself – his work ethic, his drive, his commitment – to being the best teammate, the best quarterback, possible.

“That carries over into his life. He respects and appreciates his friends, his family, his new wife. A lot of wonderful things are happening in Bo’s life.

“I could not be happier for the guy.”

Best of all, at 26 Mitchell is only approaching the peak of his powers.

“You can see the maturity, the growth, in Bo,’’ says Garcia. “And I think that’s got a lot to do with his life. He’s more settled in his life, more at peace with his life.

“That allows you as a player to relax and better mentally understand the approach you need on the field. Whether that’s showing up at the facility earlier, spending more time watching film, taking the younger guys under his wing. Whatever.

“To win championships, you need to adopt a championship lifestyle.

“That creates longevity and consistency as a player.”

“He’s fully deserving. There’s not a better player in the Canadian Football League right now than Bo Levi Mitchell.”

– Jeff Garcia

In accomplishing the expected, Mitchell would join a select group of Stampeders — Jon Cornish, Burris, Doug Flutie (3X), Willie Burden, Peter Liske and Lovell Coleman — to be named MOP over the award’s 63-year history.

In 1997, Jeff Garcia reached the Jeff Nicklin stage and then ran smack dab into a 5-foot-10-inch, 180-pound dynamo.

Certainly Garcia’s season could be considered MOP worthy. He’d thrown for 4,573 yards and 33 touchdowns, the best numbers he’d put up as a Stamp before heading south to greater fame and fortune in the four-down game.

But the 5,505 yards, jaw-dropping 47 TD passes and allure of sprite-sized sorcerer Flutie ruled the day.

“Doug was such a favourite in the Canadian Football League at that time,’’ recalls Garcia. “Its poster child, really.

“He’d gone to Toronto and led the Argos to a Grey Cup title after winning the (MOP) award. So knowing statistically where he was at, the market he was in, the fact that he’d helped revived that franchise in a lot of ways …

“For me, it was an honour to be recognized as the Western MVP. Doug had done so many great things, had so many fantastic seasons and I was still a newcomer in a lot of ways.

“So it was one of those things.

“I knew going in beating Doug would be a tall order.”

Just as Ernest Jackson must realize today.

And so, Jeff Garcia’s politeness aside, yes, it is hands-down/slam-dunk Bo’s.

“Well, I know I’m cheering for the guy,’’ says the mentor optimistically.

“He’s fully deserving. There’s not a better player in the Canadian Football League right now than Bo Levi Mitchell.

“I can’t wait to see him lift that award.”