By TOM ZEBOLD

USF Senior Writer

TAMPA, SEPT. 1, 2014 – Marlon Mack has been named College Football Performance Awards national running back of the week after setting a USF single-game record with 280 all-purpose yards in the Bulls' season-opening victory over Western Carolina on Saturday night.

Mack, a true freshman from Sarasota, tied USF single-game records with 275 rushing yards and four touchdowns after posting scoring runs from 62, 60, 56 and 3 yards out in the 36-31 victory at Raymond James Stadium. Mack also earned a spot on the American Athletic Conference weekly honor roll with his dazzling collegiate debut.

Mack leads the nation in rushing and he's the new American Athletic Conference single-game record-holder after getting a surprise start against the Catamounts. The former Booker High School standout shattered the previous USF freshman rushing record of 179 yards set by Rafael Williams in 1997 and he now owns the program record in yards per carry (11.5) among players with 20 rushes or more in a game.

“I told our football team before the game, 'Some people show up under the spotlight and some people run away.' The spotlight came and he showed up and he showed out. It was good to see,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “We said all training camp the kid is special. We saw that in training camp. We saw that on the field when we recruited him and he didn't let us down tonight.”

Check out the complete list of College Football Performance Awards performers of the week HERE.

Watch Mack and the Bulls continue their four-game home stand 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Maryland at Raymond James Stadium. The first-ever meeting between the programs will be broadcast nationally on the CBS Sports Network. Purchase tickets for USF's six remaining home games HERE.