The in-your-face faith might just be a winning strategy. Two-thirds of South Carolina residents say they pray daily and half say they read the Bible at least once a week. In 2012’s primary, 65% of Republicans said they were Evangelicals or born-again Christians. It’s tough to win in South Carolina with only a cursory nod to faith; the faithful want one of their own to win, and South Carolina demands public professions of faith. Rubio is obviously ready to stand in the public square with his creed.

Rubio is a practicing Catholic, but at various points in his life he has been a Mormon and attended a Southern Baptist-affiliated mega-church at home in Florida. He often mentioned his faith in Iowa, and that helped him place a better-than-expected third place before stumbling in secular New Hampshire.

Now that the campaign is heading toward a final push in South Carolina, Rubio is back to pushing his faith. He plans to be in South Carolina every day before Saturday’s primary. “We are all-in,” one of his top advisers said. The campaign once suggested they were playing for a win here, but now they’re trying to calibrate those expectations. (The same strategy called for them to come in second in New Hampshire, where he placed fifth. “Some things have obviously changed,” the same adviser says dryly.)