Herman Cain says campaign brought in $2.8 million

(CNN) - GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain told a crowd in Tennessee Friday night his campaign brought in $2.8 million between July and September, his campaign confirmed to CNN.

Cain also said the campaign has $1 million of cash on hand for the third fund-raising quarter.

"You see I run this very tight, like a start-up business because that's my nature as a businessman," Cain told CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront" on Thursday. Cain said there would be no debt reported for the period.

In a release, Cain's finance chief heralded the numbers.

“We have had a very successful quarter," Mark Block, COO for Friends of Herman Cain, Inc., said. "Mr. Cain’s message is spreading and attracting supporters all across the country."

The campaign numbers for Cain, who has risen in the polls in the last few weeks, are being closely watched as a gauge of whether the upstart candidate can sustain his recent momentum and mount a serious fight for the nomination.

While Cain’s spokesman, J.D. Gordon, Friday night told CNN Cain had not loaned his campaign any of his own money, that was not correct. The filing with the Federal Election Commission showed the candidate had given a loan of $175,000 to the campaign. On Sunday Gordon told CNN said it was “a misunderstanding.”

In the second quarter, from April through June, Cain raised about $2 million from donors and separately loaned his campaign $500,000.

Cain’s campaign also said it has raised $2 million this month due to his rise in popularity.