Christian McCaffrey breaks Barry Sanders' 27-year-old yardage record

— -- SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Christian McCaffrey has broken the record of a player he grew up idolizing.

The Stanford running back surpassed Barry Sanders' NCAA single-season record for all-purpose yardage in the second quarter of Saturday night's Pac-12 championship game against USC.

McCaffrey eclipsed the record of 3,250 yards on a 2-yard plunge, concluding a pursuit that has included 10 games of more than 200 all-purpose yards this season and four of more than 300.

The accomplishment also builds an interesting bridge to McCaffrey's past: According to his mother, his childhood bedroom was filled with posters of Sanders.

"Whenever a new Barry Sanders highlight video came out, he would run to watch it," Lisa McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey, the son of three-time Super Bowl champion receiver Ed McCaffrey, tied the mark on a 31-yard punt return prior to his short record-breaking run. He'll now have a chance to pad the number, which belonged to Sanders for 27 years, in the postseason.

It should be noted that McCaffrey surpassed 3,250 all-purpose yards in his 13th game of the season, while Sanders' Oklahoma State team played only 11 games in that 1988 campaign.

Still, McCaffrey owns a commanding national lead in the all-purpose yardage category this year. He entered the Pac-12 title game averaging 252.9 yards per game, with second-place  Tyler Ervin of  San Jose State far behind at 200.8.

McCaffrey is expected to be a finalist for the 2015 Heisman Trophy, which will be presented Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.