Klein Named O'Brien Semifinalist.

The Davey O'Brien Foundation continues to heap love and praise on Collin Klein. Number Seven has been named as a semi-finalist for the Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award, which is the nation's top honor for collegiate quarterbacks. This isn't Kansas State's first dance with the award; Michael Bishop won in 1998, while Chad May and Matt Miller were finalists in 1994 and 1995 respectively.

Joining Klein on the O'Brien watchlist: Matt Barkley of USC, Tajh Boyd of Clemson, Teddy Bridgewater of Louisville, Colby Cameron of Louisiana Tech, Seth Doege of Texas Tech, Nick Florence of Baylor, Landry Jones of Oklahoma, E.J. Manuel of Florida State, Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M, Marcus Mariota of Oregon, A.J. McCarron of Alabama, Braxton Miller of Ohio State, Aaron Murray of Georgia, Denard Robinson of Michigan, and Geno Smith of West Virginia.

But that's not all! For the second week in a row, the foundation has tabbed the K-State game as their Marquee Match-Up. With both Klein and Doege being semifinalists, and Klein being the apparent front-runner, the foundation has selected the K-State/Texas Tech game as their spotlight for the week. Doege was named the Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week in Week 7 after Tech's dismantling of West Virginia. The Week 8 award has not yet been announced, but if Klein earns the honor this weekend would be the first matchup between previous weekly winners this season.

Saturday is a big showdown already, but the Davey O'Brien Foundation has added yet another wrinkle. The marquee match-up doesn't necessarily bring Heisman attention in and of itself, but it does focus the attention of the O'Brien voters on the game. Another stellar performance by Klein could very well all but seal the award.

Remember, five percent of the O'Brien vote comes from fan balloting, so be sure to go give Collin your support. One vote per day per IP address.