TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Erik Manuel had mentioned to his son that he was close to accomplishing something special, a feat that no other Florida State quarterback had ever done.

EJ Manuel is already 3-0 in bowl games. And while he didn’t start the 2010 Chick-fil-A Bowl win over South Carolina, he relieved the injured Christian Ponder after halftime and led FSU to a win.

Manuel would be the first FSU quarterback to play a significant amount of time in four bowl victories if the Seminoles defeat Northern Illinois on Jan. 1 in the Orange Bowl. He would also be the first FSU quarterback to start and win three bowl games.

“My dad mentioned that to me when I was home a few weeks ago,” Manuel said. “I’m looking forward to it. If you can have a 4-0 record that says a lot. That says enough in itself. Just got to keep the streak going.”

Manuel is a combined 48 of 70 (68.5 percent) for 522 yards in the three bowl games, wins over West Virginia, South Carolina and Notre Dame.

West Virginia’s Pat White, from 2005-08, is thought to be the only quarterback to start in four bowl wins. Oklahoma’s Landry Jones is going for his fourth bowl win — all starts — when the Sooners play Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 4.

Manuel won’t be in their company only because he didn’t start the bowl win over South Carolina. But it’s still an impressive accomplishment if he can win four bowl games.

The last FSU quarterback to start and win two straight bowl games was Danny Kanell, who led the Seminoles to wins in the 1995 Sugar Bowl and 1996 Orange Bowl.