Sunnyslope High School graduate Mike Nixon continues to make the grade for ASU both on the field and off.

Nixon, a senior linebacker and a former Major League Baseball player, had a solo tackle and three assists Saturday night against USC.

For the third consecutive season, Nixon has been named a First Team Academic All-District VIII selection by ESPN The Magazine. Nixon becomes the first football student-athlete in school history to earn first-team honors three straight seasons.

Nixon, who has earned First Team Academic All-Pac-10 selections in each of the past two seasons, came into the game as the Sun Devils’s leading tackler with 49. He carries a 4.07 GPA and is a political science major.