diff --git a/examples/django-backend.py b/examples/django-backend.py
index 5c59b8f..55881c8 100644
--- a/examples/django-backend.py
+++ b/examples/django-backend.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 # TACACSPLUS_AUTH_PROTOCOL = 'ascii'
 #
 
-class TACACSPlusBackend(object):
+class TACACSPlusBackend:
     '''
     Custom TACACS+ auth backend for Django
     '''
@@ -31,21 +31,21 @@ def _get_or_set_user(self, username, password):
             logger.debug("Created TACACS+ user %s" % (username,))
         return user
 
-    def authenticate(self, username, password):
+    def authenticate(self, request, username=None, password=None):
         if not settings.TACACSPLUS_HOST:
             return None
         try:
             auth = TACACSClient(
-                settings.TACACSPLUS_HOST.encode('utf-8'),
+                settings.TACACSPLUS_HOST,
                 settings.TACACSPLUS_PORT,
-                settings.TACACSPLUS_SECRET.encode('utf-8'),
+                settings.TACACSPLUS_SECRET,
                 timeout=settings.TACACSPLUS_SESSION_TIMEOUT,
             ).authenticate(
-                username.encode('utf-8'), password.encode('utf-8'),
+                username, password,
                 TAC_PLUS_AUTHEN_TYPES[settings.TACACSPLUS_AUTH_PROTOCOL],
             )
         except Exception as e:
-            logger.exception("TACACS+ Authentication Error: %s" % (e.message,))
+            logger.exception("TACACS+ Authentication Error: %s" % (e,))
             return None
         if auth.valid:
             return self._get_or_set_user(username, password)
@@ -59,4 +59,4 @@ def get_user(self, user_id):
         try:
             return User.objects.get(pk=user_id)
         except User.DoesNotExist:
-            return None
+            return None
\ No newline at end of file