Macalester grad Austin Rogers is on a “Jeopardy!” winning streak. The New York City bartender had won nearly $307,000 by the end of last week, fifth place in all-time regular season winnings, according to the folks at “Jeopardy!” After another win on Wednesday, his total is now $411,000.

He’s scheduled to return to the show Thursday. “Jeopardy!” airs at 4:30 p.m. on KARE-11.

But it’s not just the big bucks that are making Rogers a “Jeopardy!” fave. Wild hair, a bushy beard, animated gestures and big bets have fans singing his praises on Twitter with the hashtag #AustinOnJeopardy, according to the Associated Press. Twitter comments are mainly like this one: “There are two types of people in this world: people that like #austinonjeopardy and people that don’t matter.”

Rogers told “Good Morning America” that the secret to his success is uncovering patterns in clues by watching hundreds of “Jeopardy!” episodes.

In a Q&A at jeopardy.com, Rogers said “Jeopardy!” has been on his radar for a while.

“When I was a kid, ‘Jeopardy!’ aired at 7 p.m. on WABC-7, but it also aired earlier on some local affiliate channel, so occasionally my brothers and I would watch the earlier version, then yell out the answers on the later airing to p— off our parents.” Related Articles St. Paul native Doua Moua put on 40 pounds for Disney ‘Mulan’ role

Documentary on women in the restaurant business now streaming

Longtime WCCO-TV reporter Bill Hudson announces retirement

TV: Minneapolis pastry chef wins big — again — in a Food Network competition

Minnesotans can audition online Friday for the 19th season of ‘American Idol’

Here’s what else he had to say:

He set the bar low. “I set myself a goal of two wins. I sort of exceeded that expectation. I mean, I always wanted validation that I’m smarter than everyone, and now, when in an argument, I can just say “SCOREBOARD!” and point to an imaginary jumbotron.

His knowledge spans history, music and “general ‘nerdery.’ ” “My education was a little on the specialized side, so I don’t think it really affects my results other than encouraging a curious nature. If I don’t know the answer to something, I immediately look it up and usually don’t forget it. So I guess I got a good learning regimen from college, but the specific information utilized in answering correctly is mostly from my extracurricular reading, documentary watching and general nerdery.

“I graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul with a B.A. in history. I would’ve ended up with a music major as well, but I slept through my final piano test and when they offered to let me reschedule it, I thought, ‘Eh, it’s the end of school. I’ve already got one major. I’m getting the diploma anyway. Do I really need the other major?’ So yeah, one real major, one minor that could’ve been a major if I cared. But I didn’t.”

This isn’t his first fime on stage. “I’m no stranger to the stage, so I feel absolutely no pressure. Having performed stand-up, and hosted auctions and fundraisers as MC – including a theater fundraiser for several hundred people at Studio 54 – and other on-camera appearances, I don’t feel overwhelmed at all.”

He underwent extreme buzzer training. “My friend and owner of the bar at which I work got me a calisthenic thumb exerciser thing and I used that as my mock buzzer since a pen doesn’t have the right amount of resistance.”

He did his research. “I watched countless back episodes of ‘Jeopardy!’ Since I don’t own a TV, I hadn’t seen a complete episode of ‘Jeopardy!’ probably since college, so like, 18 years ago or so. So I watched dozens of episodes from as early as the ’80s up until recently, sort of in no particular order, and I began to see the ‘Jeopardy!’ ‘Easter eggs’ — repeated motifs. Like, I saw two episodes (from different decades) and they both said, ‘Blah, blah, blah, Romanian playwright.’ Each time both contestants rang in and said, “Who is Ionesco?” I still have no idea who Ionesco is, but if I’m ever confronted with ‘Romanian playwright,’ I know the intended answer.

“In between bingeing back episodes, I’d watch film adaptations of Shakespeare plays, Jane Austen novels and other things I know I’ve read but I definitely didn’t remember. It didn’t help because I still can’t remember which one’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and which one’s ‘Sense and Sensibility.’ I definitely got one of those wrong. Stupid Austin mistaking his Austen.”

He always remembers to mime — sort of. “So, here’s the thing. The first couple of times, I realized there’s a ton of time to stand there and grin like an idiot as they announce winnings, names, etc. So I’m like, ‘I got to kill this time somehow. It’s awkward.’ But when they start introducing the next victims — sorry, contestants — I always think, ‘I forgot to prepare one of the pantomimes!’ So 90 percent of those are completely improvised in a near panic.”