Matt Leinart's chosen path at USC featured highlights on, off field

05:38 AM CST on Monday, January 2, 2006

By BRAD TOWNSEND / The Dallas Morning News

LOS ANGELES – Matt Leinart sauntered into the Beverly Hilton lobby looking like one would expect Matt Leinart to look at 9 a.m. on New Year's Day.

Jan. 4, 7 p.m.
ABC (Ch. 8)
Pasadena, Calif.

From the Scene blog

Multimedia: Vince Young and his Fabulous Longhorns

Video: (from KVUE)

Sherrington: Spying on USC's Bush

USC's Leinart charting his own course

Switzer: This is same ol' Mack

USC's Leinart offers open ear to Young

USC takes exception to 'greatest ever' talk

Rose Bowl buzz

Monday's bowl previews

Notebook

Who's the best all-time?

Photos: Day at Disneyland

Your photos | UT wallpaper

Inside UT newsletter

Guide | Seating (.pdf)

Bowl schedule

Cotton Bowl section

Monday's bowl previews

More Rose Bowl

More Colleges

Just-rolled-out-of-bed hair – but not too messy. Two-day-old stubble. USC sweats slightly disheveled, California-cool pretty boy image intact.

In terms of the "it" factor, Broadway Joe Namath entering Super Bowl III had little on Sunset Boulevard Matt as he enters Wednesday night's Rose Bowl national title game.

"We tease him all the time," USC safety Scott Ware said.

"It's ridiculous how some of those girls throw themselves at him."

Unlike Namath's Jets against Baltimore in '69, Leinart's Trojans are favored to beat Texas for their 35th consecutive victory and third straight national title. And Leinart made no bold proclamations Sunday, unlike Namath three days before Super Bowl III.

"I feel like this has been the best time of my life, these past four or five years, and Wednesday is kind of the culmination," Leinart said. "I just want to go out with a bang and play like I know how to play for them."

USC is exactly where Leinart hoped it would be when he decided to return, despite the prospect of going No. 1 in the NFL draft after winning the 2004 Heisman Trophy.

Needing only two credits to complete his sociology degree, he mapped out what seemed to be an idyllic final semester.

He would complete his degree by taking ballroom dancing with girlfriend Brynn Cameron, a USC sophomore basketball player. He would try to lead USC to another title while soaking in campus life and bopping into the Viper Room with friends such as Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson.

But the ride was far from wonderful, and it had nothing to do with the Lachey-Simpson breakup or the difficulty of the tango.

"The pressure and weight on my shoulders; I felt like I was having to carry so much stuff, on and off the field," he said.

He said "it finally, finally" crashed down on him the week after Oct. 15 game at Notre Dame – after he and Reggie Bush led a 34-31 comeback win, with Leinart twisting over for the deciding touchdown with three seconds left.

Weary of having 20, 50 even 100 students a day approach him for autographs and "Got a second?" requests, he found himself walking through campus with his sweat-top hood on and the bill of his baseball cap pulled down.

He sought out quarterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian, who told Leinart that he noticed a difference in his demeanor inside the locker room. Although USC was 6-0 and ranked No. 1, Leinart apologized to teammates and coaches because he knew his play was subpar.

He said he simply reminded himself to have fun and make the most of the last half of his final season. In the six games since Notre Dame, he has completed 66.8 percent of his passes for 1,493 yards, 15 touchdowns and two interceptions.

"None of us can know what this year was like for him," USC offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin said. "He couldn't go anywhere without getting mobbed. He was expected to complete every ball. That's a lot of pressure."

Leinart seems relaxed this week. That may not bode well for Texas.

With a month to recharge and prepare for last year's national title game against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, he fired five touchdown passes during the 55-19 rout, four in the first half.

Perhaps more ominous news for the Longhorns: It's basically a home game for the Trojans, which means Leinart has his game-week superstitions aligned in just the right way.

Although he declines to be specific, they included lunch Sunday with his father and something about lucky boxer shorts.

Apparently the only time he failed to wear them was when USC lost to Cal on Sept. 27, 2003, the only blemish in Leinart's 38 games as a starter.

"They've got holes in them," he said. "They're cleaned every week, but they're just gross."

Leinart flashed an embarrassed smile, no hint of pressure or "stuff" weighing on his shoulders. It's the smile that will serve him well, especially if the Trojans win Wednesday and he can run out of the Rose Bowl holding up his right index finger.

He'll head to what appears to be a promising NFL career and probably commercials, although he'll probably stick with boxers rather than the pantyhose that Namath pitched.

E-mail btownsend@dallasnews.com