Jason Doherty wants Mayo's championship opener in New York to the first step in a direct route towards Sam.
The recently crowned Division 1 champions kick off their challenge at Gaelic Park on Sunday night.
And the sharpshooter is optimistic that the draining back door route taken by his county in recent years can be avoided this summer.
“It’s definitely a firm target," said Doherty. "The first target this year is definitely to win Connacht.
"That’s to go over, beat New York and move on. Ultimately, the next big one for us is a Connacht title.
"We’ve probably let ourselves down the last three or four years in that competition and we’re definitely targeting putting that right in 2019."
Mayo were kings on Connacht for five years in a row between 2011 and 2015 but haven't conquered the province since as Galway emerged as the dominant force.
But the return of James Horan to the hot-seat heralded a massive push in this year's league, culminating in the final victory over Kerry.
As far as key forward Doherty is concerned, that success hasn't altered Mayo's "tunnel vision" in terms of landing that elusive All-Ireland title.
Jason Doherty says drive for Sam Maguire is helped by Mayo fan power
"That league win was very much a launch pad into the summer now," said the 29-year-old.
"We can move forward, rather than have a post mortem saying, ‘What went wrong in the League?'.
"There’s huge amounts we can improve on but obviously it makes it a lot easier to go back to training knowing you’ve a league title.
"But definitely it doesn’t or it won’t take away from the goals we have in Championship in terms of beating New York and chasing a Connacht title.
"If we get that, then it opens up a whole new door."
Doherty played in the Mayo side that made the cross-Atlantic trip in 2014 and came home with a handsome 22-point victory.
Reflecting on it now, he says it was "just very different, a kind of a theatrical, carnival atmosphere".
He explained: "You’re going over to a city that you’re so used to looking at on the telly and there’s so much going on.
"The game itself, you’re playing on a pitch that you wouldn’t usually play on, it’s an astroturf pitch, it seems quite small, the crowds…
"It's a great experience because you’ve four or five days with a gang of lads that you enjoy being around so it’s a different atmosphere but certainly something to enjoy."
But there's a flipside, warns Doherty.
With everything that's going on in the Big Apple, he insists it's important that the Mayo players - especially those experiencing the trip for the first time - keep their focus.
New York came close to a shock against Leitrim last year against Roscommon in 2017. Horan will look to ensure Mayo aren't drawn into similar territory.
"For younger lads in the panel for the first time going over for a championship game, potentially it could be a distraction," Doherty said.
"So it’s up to us older lads to manage that energy because you easily could be distracted between the big city and the shopping.
"It’s trying to focus on performing against New York which you’re not used to, there’s not much familiarity there".
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