UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Senior defensive end Carl Nassib is a finalist for the 12th Lott IMPACT Trophy presented by Mercedes-Benz USA, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation announced. The award is given to a distinguished young men represent the qualities embodied by Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott -- Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community and Tenacity.
Joining Nassib on the list of finalists are Jeremy Cash of Duke, Tyler Matakevich of Temple and Joshua Perry of Ohio State.
The winner of the 2015 Lott IMPACT Trophy will be announced at The Lott IMPACT Trophy Award Banquet, held at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach on Sunday, Dec. 13. The award show will be televised live on Fox Sports at 7 p.m. (PST), and will be hosted by Fox Sports' Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft.
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is the fifth national award that Nassib has been named a finalist for, joining Lombardi Award (nation's top lineman or linebacker), Nagurski Trophy (nation's top defensive player), Bednarik Award (nation's top defensive player) and Burlsworth Trophy (top player that started his career as a walk-on).
Earlier this week, Nassib was picked as the Big Ten's Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year in a vote of the conference's coaches and earned first team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and media. He is the sixth Nittany Lion to take home Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolades since 1998. He joins LaVar Arrington (1998), Courtney Brown (1999), Michael Haynes (2002), Jared Odrick (2009) and Devon Still (2011) on the list of Penn State honorees.
Despite playing only six snaps in the last two games due to injury, Nassib leads FBS in sacks (15.5) and forced fumbles (6) and is second in FBS and first in the Big Ten in tackles for loss (19.5). With one sack at Northwestern, Nassib broke the Penn State single-season sacks record by upping his total to 15.5. He surpasses the mark of 15 sacks set by Larry Kubin (1979) and Michael Haynes (2002).
Additionally, Nassib's six forced fumbles this season are the most by a Penn State player since Haynes had a school-record seven in the 2002. Nassib is the first Penn State player to force two fumbles in two games in a season since Maurice Evans did it in 2007. Evans had two forced fumbles against Indiana and two forced fumbles against Texas A&M in the Alamo Bowl. Nassib was a midseason All-America choice by SI.com, ESPN.com, USAToday.com and CBS Sports.