BAKERSFIELD - Cody Kessler didn’t grow up near marinas or silicon chips, or electric boats or ocean cliffs.

Instead, he grew up in California. Right in the middle of it.

He grew up with oil wells and almond trees, in the home of Kevin Harvick and Rick Mears, in the city where Merle Haggard lived in a boxcar, and Buck Owens sang about crying time again.

Bakersfield is old California, a stand-alone, not a suburb of anything. It has 350,000 people and 18 public high schools. Kessler’s dad Don and his mom Christie are Bakersfield-bred. They all try to keep it simple.

When Cody heard that Centennial High teammate Shawn Johnson needed to live with another family, because he couldn’t always catch the morning bus from his aunt’s house, he thought the solution was clear: Have him live with the Kesslers.

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Shawn did, sleeping in the same room with Cody’s younger brother Dylan. He wound up at Montana State, graduated and became the school’s best-ever all-purpose rusher. He still hangs at the house with the Trojan flag out front.

But when it came time to pick a college and play quarterback, it got confusing, primarily because Cody couldn’t play for everybody.

He awakened one morning in 2011 with one job. He had to call Steve Sarkisian and Doug Nussmeier, the head coach and offensive coordinator at Washington, and tell them he was coming.

Instead, Kessler wound up at USC.

Today, Kessler is the Pac-12’s leading Heisman Trophy candidate. He is as efficient a quarterback as the Trojans have ever had. This year he can return them to pre-probation euphoria.

But he won’t be a legend. He walks on the ground, Bakersfield style.

Is it too late?

In a world where yards are footnotes and possession is supreme, Kessler is a man of his time. He threw five interceptions last season in 14 games, and has thrown 12 in 815 attempts as a Trojan.

Matt Barkley threw 48 in his career, Carson Palmer 49.

“One game in high school, he hit 32 of 33 for five touchdowns,” said Jared Norris, a Centennial High teammate who is a linebacker at Utah. “The one incompletion was a drop.”

The same awareness made Kessler the city MVP in basketball, as a point guard.

“When he was in the sixth grade, he was playing eighth graders,” said Don Kessler, a willing storyteller and a former prison guard and high school coach.

“And I always told him that he should want to be the guy who took the last shot or made the last play. He said, ‘What if I fail?’ I said that’s better than being the guy who passes it off.”

Kessler was the point guard as a ninth grader. Against Ridgeview in the playoffs, he drove and dished to Taylor Kelly. When Kelly missed the shot, Kessler converted the follow and the Golden Hawks won.

“You can talk all you want,” Kessler said. “If you can’t play, they won’t respect you. I was 14 that year, with 18- year-olds. It’s cool when they look at you as the leader without you forcing it on them.”

Bryan Nixon, his football coach, remembers Kessler’s finest hour. It was a rainy, 42-31 loss to Fresno Bullard in the playoffs, when Kessler threw for 303 yards.

The night before Signing Day, Kessler told Nixon he was headed to Washington.

The next morning, Nixon asked him if any school could change Cody’s mind. Cody said no.

The phone rang in Nixon’s office.

The ID said, “USC Athletics.”

“I thought it must be a sign,” Kessler said.

It was Clay Helton, the quarterback coach.

“Am I too late?” he asked Nixon.

“I heard about that and I knew we were in trouble,” Sarkisian said.

The family, plus Nixon, visited USC. They were in the car, somewhere in Santa Monica, when Kessler made his call.

“I don’t think I could sleep at night if I was a quarterback and I turned down USC,” Cody replied.

Today, Don sits on the couch in his living room and laughs.

“Wa walked into this room and (coach Lane) Kiffin had their last six quarterbacks on the board,” he said. “And he put down how much money they’ve made (in the NFL). Something like $279 million. Cody’s eyes got real big.”

Fighting on

Had Kessler known that 31 months would pass before his door would open, he might have stuck with Washington. He redshirted his freshman year, sat in Heritage Hall as Barkley surprisingly announced he would return as a senior, and became No. 3 behind Barkley and Max Wittek.

In 2013, Kiffin couldn’t decide between Wittek and Kessler. They split time against Hawaii and Washington State. Against Boston College, Kessler went 15 for 17, and the competition was done. Later, Kessler would lead an upset of Stanford, after Kiffin had been fired.

“I remember Coach Kiffin texting me before the BC game, telling me it was my game,” Kessler said. “I thought, OK this is your chance. Because, the first two games, I wasn’t concentrating on the defense. It was almost like practice, trying to compete against Max.”

Wittek transferred. USC hired Sarkisian.

“You know every job is open,” Sarkisian told Kessler.

“Coach, you know me,” Kessler replied.

Sarkisian brought a hyperventilated offense that suited Kessler’s quick decisions. Kessler did not throw a pick until Game 6, threw seven touchdowns against Colorado and six against Notre Dame, and launched himself onto magazine covers.

“As far all the publicity goes, I’m from Bakersfield,” Kessler said. “ I don’t need much.”

“He grew up like I did,’ Norris said. “I did a lot of farm work, at an early age. We were raised to be smart with what we get. We’re basically low-maintenance guys.”

Home and heart

Kessler is a coach’s kid, squared. Don was on the sidelines until he told Cody he didn’t want to coach him or coach against him. Christie, the mom, coached high school volleyball for 21 years.

Don is momentarily speechless, which is rare, as someone asks if Cody ever got into trouble. Cody did break his ankle skateboarding, back in fifth grade, after Don had told him, “Look, you’re not Tony Hawk.”

“Was he perfect? No,” Don said. “Did we ever have to worry about him? No.”

“What I like is the way he treats people,” Nixon said. “My kids are 12 and nine. Cody comes over to my house and just hangs with them. When a kid comes up to him after a practice or a game, no matter what mood he’s in, Cody’s going to stop and talk. How he is, off camera, is pretty much how he is.”

There were no cameras when Cody practiced with his travel basketball team in San Luis Obispo, doing his homework in the back of the car during the two-hour drive. Or when it came time to shoot hundreds of foul shots in an empty gym.

Growing up in Bakersfield is done off camera. Now that Kessler is under the lens, don’t expect him to pose.

Three facts:

1. Cody Kessler has only one two-interception game as USC’s quarterback. That was a 2013 loss at Arizona State that was Lane Kiffin’s final game as coach.

2. Kessler completed over 70 percent of his passes six times last year and wound up with a percentage of .697.

3. Other star players from Bakersfield include former USC All-America tackle Ken Ruettgers, current Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and Philadelphia Eagles running back Ryan Mathews. Both Carr and Mathews played at Fresno State.

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