We investigated the competing mechanisms of spin Hall magnetoresistance (SMR) and ordinary magnetoresistance (OMR) in van der Waals A-type antiferromagnet ${\text{CrPS}}_4/\text{Pt}$ heterostructures. By engineering the Pt thickness, we demonstrate a clear crossover from an SMR-dominated regime in thin (5 nm) Pt bilayers to an OMR-dominated regime in thick (30 nm) ones, providing a reliable protocol for isolating the elusive SMR signal from the OMR signal. Strikingly, a robust SMR persists at room temperature, far exceeding the bulk Néel temperature ($T_{\mathrm{N}}\approx 38\mathrm{K}$), which we attribute to a magnetic proximity-induced interfacial state. A field-dependent phase shift in the SMR angular response across $T_{\mathrm{N}}$ reveals that this interfacial magnetism is distinct from the bulk antiferromagnetic order. Complementary anomalous Hall effect measurements independently confirm the existence of this interfacial magnetization. Our work not only establishes ${\text{CrPS}}_4$ as a promising room-temperature spintronic material but also establishes thickness-dependent magnetotransport as a powerful tool for probing interfacial magnetic phenomena in antiferromagnetic heterojunctions.

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• Spin Hall magnetoresistance
• Spintronics
• 2-dimensional systems
• Antiferromagnets
• Heterostructures
• Interfaces
• Magnetic insulators
• Electrical transport techniques