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Cody Kessler Named Pac-12 Player of the Week

Junior QB threw for career-high 394 yards.

Harry How

Cody Kessler earned his second career Pac-12 Player of the Week award when he was named the conference's first Offensive Player of the Week of the 2014 season on Monday.

The USC Trojans lit up Fresno State for 701 total yards of offense and it all started with Kessler. The redshirt junior from Bakersfield, Calif. threw for a career-high 394 yards and tossed four touchdowns despite not playing much of the fourth quarter.

Cody Kessler led the USC offense to a 24-0 lead, hitting Nelson Agholor for a pair of touchdown passes after scoring the first points of the game with a one-yard tumble into the end zone.

In the first half alone, Kessler passed for 309 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-30 passing, adding to the two Agholor strikes with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Adoree' Jackson. Though USC did not throw the ball often in the second half, Kessler did add a 22-yard touchdown strike on a perfectly thrown strike to Bryce Dixon.

Kessler finished 25-for-37, tying his career highs for attempts and completions. He also tied his career high with the four touchdown tosses. In his last two games, both against Fresno State, Cody Kessler has now thrown for 739 yards and eight touchdowns on 47-of-67 passing.

His first Pac-12 Player of the Week award came last season against Stanford, USC's next opponent.

UCLA linebacker Eric Kendricks was named Defensive Player of the Week while Utah receiver Kaelin Clay, of Long Beach, California, was named the conference's Special Teams Player of the Week.