Brett Favre Says Tebow & Bush Are NOT Best CFB Players Ever, Here's Who Is

Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush are NOT the greatest college football players ever ... so says Brett Favre, who tells TMZ Sports that honor belongs to Southern Miss QB Reggie Collier.

"Not only is he the greatest player in Southern Miss history, he is, in my opinion, the greatest college football player ever."

So, who is Reggie Collier? He was a star quarterback for the Golden Eagles from 1979 to 1982 ... and he piled up 3,662 passing yards and 2,304 rushing yards in his 4 collegiate seasons.

Favre says he knows those numbers don't exactly compare to Tebow's and Bush's -- who, by the way, both won Heisman Trophies -- but he still says the guy is the best he's seen.

"Physically, he was second to none," Favre tells us ... "And would still be second to none at 6'4", 225, 230, ran a 4.4 40, could throw the lights out of it ... I don't think that any person watching him could not marvel at what he was able to do."

"I certainly wanted to be him."

Favre can't exactly be him these days ... but the Packers legend has a chance to BEAT him -- the two will square off as honorary coaches in this weekend's Southern Miss spring game.

As for the whole best college football player ever debate ... here's some vid of Collier. Does he look as good as Tebow or Bush to you???