USC football: Matt Leinart is Sporting News college football player of decade

Matt Leinart won the 2004 Heisman Trophy and helped lead the Trojans to two national titles and a 34-game winning streak.

Not a bad college career, according to Sporting News, which named Leinart the college football player of the decade.

Leinart chose the end of the 2005 Notre Dame game, which featured his fourth-and-nine pass to Dwayne Jarrett and his Reggie Bush-assisted sneak into the end zone, as his favorite moment.

“The thing was, we didn’t panic,” Leinart told Sporting News. “We just executed a play. And then the Bush Push, or whatever they call it, I had to decide whether to spike the ball or go for a touchdown. I told Reggie, ‘I’m going to go.’ He said, ‘OK. I’ve got you.’

“I remember, after the game, being so emotionally drained. Everything that went into that game and getting the rivalry back in the spotlight. That last drive felt like it took years off your life. But I’ll never forget celebrating in the locker room after we won.”

-- Gary Klein

Tennessee's Lane Kiffin has deja-fourth-and-two

Fourth-and-two does not appear to be Tennessee Coach Lane Kiffin’s lucky numbers.

The Volunteers, trailing 19-13, drove to the UCLA two-yard line with just over two minutes to play. On fourth down, Montario Hardesty was stopped for a one-yard gain.

Kiffin, as USC’s offensive coordinator, faced a fourth-and-two situation with a little at stake during the 2006 Rose Bowl, which was to decide the BCS national champion. The Trojans had the ball at the Texas 45 leading, 38-33. On fourth-and-two, LenDale White was stopped for a one-yard gain. Vince Young drove Texas to the winning touchdown.

The common denominator? Reggie Bush wasn’t in Kiffin’s backfield either time.

-- Chris Foster

Chris.foster@latimes.com

Twitter.com/cfosterlatimes

Photo: UCLA kept Tennessee's Montario Hardesty bottled up most of Saturday afternoon. Credit: Don McPeak / US Presswire

Reggie Bush leaves practice with sore knee

 

Running back Reggie Bush, the former Trojans star and Heisman Trophy winner, stopped practicing today at the New Orleans Saints camp because of soreness in his left knee.

Last December, Bush had surgery on the same knee to remove cartilage damage.

Bush iced his knee and then returned with a slight limp to watch practice.

The No. 2 pick in the 2006 NFL Draft has missed 10 games because of injuries in the last two seasons.

Bush had an MRI after training camp started last week and said, "Everything came back great. Now it's just about geting myself back to football shape and getting my knee back to carrying the load again."

Saints Coach Sean Payton has been limiting Bush to one practice a day when his team has two-a-days.

--Barry Stavro

Photo: New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush (25) talks with safety Darren Sharper (42) on the sidelines at training camp in Metairie, La., Wednesday. Bush stopped practicing and had ice placed on his left knee. Bush did not return to practice. Credit: AP Photo / Bill Haber.

Adrian Peterson still sore at USC

Adrian Peterson is a Pro Bowl running back for the Minnesota Vikings, but when he looks back at his college career he still has two major regrets.

And USC is involved in both.

In 2004, Peterson ran for an NCAA freshman record 1,925 yards for the Oklahoma Sooners, becoming the first freshman to place second in voting for the Heisman Trophy.

Which was won by USC quarterback Matt Leinart.

Then, a few weeks later, Peterson and the Sooners were thrashed, 55-19, in the Bowl Championship Series title game.

The winner: USC.

"When I look back, I had an outstanding [college] career," Peterson said in a story published today by the Associated Press. "There were some things that -- a national championship, I didn't accomplish that. I fell short. I had the opportunity my freshman year, and I don't even want to talk about that."

In that game he didn't want to talk about, USC held Peterson to 82 yards rushing in 25 carries, with a long gain of nine yards.

Peterson said he longed for a Heisman when, during a visit to Reggie Bush's home in L.A., he found himself gazing at Bush's Heisman. "I was like, 'Awww!' I wanted to ask him where Matt Leinart was so I could go over there and take mine. But it's all good. It is what it is."

Hey, he might still have an outside shot. Depending on how USC and Bush fare in the NCAA's investigation of the Trojans football program, there might be a national championship and Heisman up for grabs.

-- Mike Hiserman

You can't shut USC football coach (and ex-coaches) up ... on Twitter

Legal counsel has advised USC not to talk about the ongoing NCAA investigation that may, or may not, imperil  the school's football and basketball programs.

But USC Coach Pete Carroll and two top Trojan assistant football coaches during the Reggie Bush era, Lane Kiffin and Steve Sarkisian, are dominating as nonstop chatterboxes on Twitter, the new social network microblog.

Kiffin and Sarkisian are now head coaches at Tennessee and Washington, respectively, and have learned from the master about getting the message THEY want to get out to the masses.

There is -- shockingly! -- fraudulence going on in the brave new world of Twittering. St. Louis Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa just settled a lawsuit with Twitter over a bogus site using his name. UCLA football Coach Rick Neuheisel does not have a Twitter account, but there are  two sites out there with his name on them. One has the username Slick R. Neuheisel -- probably not the real Rick.

The NCAA, however, has posted a sampling of major college coaches with Twitter accounts, so we figure this link is legit.

We did a cursory check of traffic and found USC coaches -- present and past -- dominating like no other program.

Follower counts as of late-morning Monday:

USC's Carroll says NCAA investigation is old news

Appearing at a booster event Monday in Pasadena, Pete Carroll was asked about a Los Angeles Times story published Sunday examining USC's policies concerning an NCAA investigation into allegations against the Trojans' football and men's basketball programs.

The story said USC had not directly interviewed at least two of its main accusers, and pointed out that school personnel were under instructions not to talk publicly about issues connected to the investigation.

Said Carroll: "We did everything three years ago and we haven't been asked anything to update the situation. The NCAA hasn't asked a question or revisited the matter. It's all been done."

Carroll and basketball Coach Tim Floyd were asked where the investigation had become an issue in recruiting.

Floyd, who has lost at least three top recruits in the last month or so, did not respond to the question. Carroll said opposing recruiters are, "saying we're going to be ineligible for bowl games and trying to cause concerns in the parents. We try to be honest with them and tell them what we know."

He added that other teams "are always trying to find ways to get you."

-- Chris Foster

Reggie Bush's fiancee likes $20-million engagement ring. Gulp.

Former USC football star Reggie Bush, who has caused some angst at his former college for how and where he and his parents lived during his college years, has acquired a Los Angeles fiancee while he's been playing for the New Orleans Saints, and apparently she is tired of waiting for Reggie to get her that engagement ring.

So Kim Kardashian, part of a bunch of sisters who have sparkled on various reality television shows, has gone shopping herself. According to this article in something called the National Ledger, the ring that has caught Kim's eye costs $20 million. That might be a little pricey even for Bush, if these salary figures are correct. Maybe reality television pays better than we think. Or maybe Reggie would be well advised to get out there and buy a ring quick. I hear there are nice rings even in the $10-million range.

— Diane Pucin

Photo: Reggie Bush and Kim Kardashian doing whatever it is they do. Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images.

Nothing compared to USC's 2006 Pro Day

NFL coaches and scouts turned out en masse for USC's pro day to watch quarterback Mark Sanchez, linebackers Brian Cushing, Rey Maualuga and Clay Matthews and the rest of the draft-eligible Trojans.

But the scene paled in comparison to USC's 2006 event, regarded throughout the college and pro football worlds as the pro day to end all pro days.

Back then, pro day was open to the public. So a huge crowd showed up to catch a glimpse of Heisman Trophy winners Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart, running back LenDale White and others. The crowd grew so large, in fact, the fire marshal threatened to shut down the event.

Coach Pete Carroll, capitalizing on the interest, had tied pro day to junior day, when high school prospects come to campus. It made for an interesting mix of college players, high school players, agents, coaches, scouts, media and fans.

Wake-up Call: Dustin Brown, Trevor Hoffman, Rey Maualuga, LeBron James, Reggie Bush

First things first: Kings Dustin Brown has been selected to play for the Western Conference All-Star squad at the 2009 NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 25 in Montreal. It will be Brown's first All-Star appearance. The Ducks, of course, have three players who were selected as starters: Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Niedermayer and Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

In case you missed it, Bill Shaikin last night reported that the Dodgers have offered closer Trevor Hoffman a one-year deal. Should the deal go through, it will be strange rooting for Hoffman after all his years with the San Diego Padres and his ability more often than not to shut down the Dodger hitters. But then, before Manny Ramirez, it seemed as though there were many pitchers who could shut down Dodger hitters.

He's sorry: Well, well, well. Rey Maualuga apologizes. Save that headline. It will come in handy again. The linebacker supposedly told ABC sideline reporter Erin Andrews he is sorry for what he did at the end of the Rose Bowl game. Or so says the university.

He's crabby: Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James is still upset over that "crab dribble" on Sunday and now says he will keep using it. He was whistled for traveling in the closing seconds of Cleveland's 80-77 loss at Washington, but James says the "crab dribble" is legal and called on the NBA to reexamine it. "They need to understand that's not a travel," James said.

They're dreaming: The Dallas Morning News put together a compilation of the best Dallas Cowboys photos of this season. Now, really. These are great photos, but do they show the frustration, the total failure that the season was? You be the judge. You know it is an interesting season when one of the first pictures up is of the cheerleaders. But I like this photo package a little more to sum up their season.

Add NFL: The New Orleans Saints said today that running back Reggie Bush (remember him?) did indeed undergo microfracture surgery on his left knee, and will require months of rehabilitation. However, the Saints are sure he will be ready for minicamp in June. Meanwhile, ex-UCLA Bruin Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars was on the Dan Patrick show this morning and made his picks for the next playoff games: Titans and Steelers. Listen in.

Add NFL 1: SI.com's Peter King names his All-Pro team and Don Banks does the opposite, what he calls the All-Disappointment team. Wouldn't a better name be the All-Poor team?

-- Debbie Goffa

Pete Carroll and 60 Minutes

USC football Coach Pete Carroll will be the subject of a CBS "60 Minutes" segment Sunday between 7 and 8 p.m. The piece was done by former Ohio Wesleyan football player Byron Pitts.

Carroll said Thursday that he was "a little nervous" about how he would be portrayed. Pitts said it was made clear to Carroll that while much of the focus would be on the work Carroll does with inner city gangs, questions would be asked about the NCAA investigation into Reggie Bush and any possible NCAA violations that may have occurred.

And check back at latimes.com later to read more about Carroll and Pitts. They discuss the "60 Minutes" piece done on Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis two years ago.

-- Diane Pucin