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Smith Earns C-USA Offensive Player Of The Week Honors For Third Time This Season

Nov. 12, 2007

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Orlando, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - UCF junior running back Kevin Smith (Miami, Fla./Southridge) was named the Co-Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, league officials announced. Smith's award is his third of the season marking the first time a C-USA athlete has earned the weekly offensive honor three times in one year since East Carolina's James Pinkney in 2005. Smith shared the honor with Memphis quarterback Martin Hankins, who threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns during a come-from-behind win at Southern Miss.

Smith broke the UCF single-game rushing record with 320 yards in a 45-31 victory at UAB, which extended the Knights' winning streak to four games. Smith's 320 rushing yards also helped him break the UCF single-season rushing mark held by Marquette Smith (1,511 in 1995) as he finished the night with 1,768 yards on the season.

That total also gave him the top single-season rushing mark in Florida college football history, as Miami's Willis McGahee set the previous mark of 1,753 rushing yards in 2002. Smith's four rushing touchdowns against the Blazers tied a program single-game record and increased his season touchdown total to 23, which leads the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.

Smith's scoring totals tied former Memphis running back DeAngelo Williams' single-season C-USA records for total touchdowns (23) and rushing touchdowns (22) that he set in 2004. During the Knights' four-game winning streak, Smith has rushed for 853 yards and 11 touchdowns (12 total). Smith now has eight multiple-touchdown games this season and nine 100-yard rushing efforts (both tops in the FBS).

Tulsa's Nelson Coleman earned the league's weekly defensive honor after making 20 tackles in the Golden Hurricane's 56-7 drubbing of Houston. Rice's Clark Fangmeier won the Special Teams Award after connecting on a 31-yard field goal as time expired in a 43-42 victory over SMU.

Tickets for UCF's regular season home finale vs. UTEP on Nov. 24 are still available and can be purchased by calling 407-UCF-1000. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. ET.

For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out www.ucfphotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.

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