FEDEX ORANGE BOWL: SOUTHERN CAROLINA v OKLAHOMA

January 2, 2005

Matt Leinart

MATT LEINART: He just said my life is going to change and really didn't know what to tell me, just be ready for the next couple weeks and the next month because it gets real kind of crazy and hectic. He was right. You know, there's a lot more people coming around, a lot more attention and stuff like that. But he didn't really say too much.

MATT LEINART: It's been both. You know, it's been fun, been kind of overwhelming at times, but it comes along with success and being at USC, and obviously I wouldn't change anything for the world. It's been mostly fun. It's been a great experience so far.

MATT LEINART: Not really. I was ready to come home after the whole thing and get back to work. I put the trophy away in my house and it's been all business ever since I got back.

MATT LEINART: Not at all. We prepare pretty much every game the same, regardless of this stage or whether it's a PAC 10 game. Obviously this is a big game and there's a lot more attention and hype surrounding the game, but all the practices have been the same. They're all intense, fast practices. We all compete, and I think that's the great thing is that we are prepared no matter who we play. Last year we were in a little bit different situation, kind of got slighted, but we still prepared the same way and beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl, and this year really there's no different feelings.

MATT LEINART: No, that's the great thing about bowl season, because anybody can beat anyone. There's great match-ups all across the board, upsets and just great games to watch. Yesterday there was a bunch of great games to watch. I expect come Tuesday that it's going to be a great game.

MATT LEINART: Sometimes. You know, I really try not to let myself watch the other team. I need to go over what we're doing and I kind of just sit there. I like to watch our defense really. I don't really watch the opposing offense too much.

MATT LEINART: Absolutely. We're excited to bring a PAC 10 team into the BCS title game. We're representing the West Coast and representing all those PAC 10 schools. I'm sure they're all excited for us to be here. They want us to win and to represent their schools and everyone at the conference, as well. So we're excited. We're just really excited to represent USC and get back into this championship game.

MATT LEINART: Yeah, we're definitely anxious to get out there and play. There's just been so much talk and so much hype and all this stuff, and I think both teams just want to get at it and go and play this game. It's just right around the corner, a couple days away. I feel like we prepared very well this past month and know what we want to get accomplished in this game and we'll be ready to go.

MATT LEINART: It's fun. This is why you come to USC and to play in the games like these. With the media, with all the hype, it's fun. You don't want to be in any different situation. I love it. I love having pressure on my shoulders and all that stuff. I've been having pressure my whole life, so this is a spot where we want to be as a team. We like being on the national stage where everyone is watching us.

MATT LEINART: Their speed is a lot like Virginia Tech where we opened up this season. They are so good. There's not a lot of weaknesses on film. We're just going to run our stuff. We have a nice game planned and we're ready to go. We have a lot of speed, as well, so it's a great match-up.

MATT LEINART: Our defense is what's got us here. They've been holding us the last couple years. For the first team all-Americans on defense all sitting up here, they're really our backbone of our team. Coach Carroll does a great job getting them ready, and really us going at it against each other every day in practice only helps each other out, especially come game time when they face a great offense. They're going to be ready and we'll be ready because I feel like our defense is the best in the country. They've been the best in the last couple of years and kind of get overshadowed at times by the offense. We all know that that's what got us to this point is the defense.

MATT LEINART: I have no comments on that. He's entitled to say whatever he wants. He has his opinions. I really could care less what he has to say or really anybody, I think. My main focus is getting on the job done, leading my team, playing well, but that really had no effect on our team. It's just a guy talking. A lot of people do that, and so be it. It's not really a big deal to us.

MATT LEINART: No. I just kind of laughed. People say stuff about me all year, and I really don't care as long as I go out there and just do my job.

MATT LEINART: Yeah, we've come a long way. Our chemistry and working together with Steve and Dwayne and Chris and Jason and all those guys, I'm so proud of the way that they've grown as a unit. They came in with a question mark and really are one of the finest receiving corpses in the country and they're all freshmen and sophomores. That's the scary thing about it. When Steve went down, Dwayne stepped up and Chris and Jason Mitchell stepped up, and now we have four or five good receivers that all have experience and have played in big games throughout the season. I mean, the sky is the limit for those guys. I'm just curious to see how they do in the future because they're all great players.

MATT LEINART: Yeah. I mean, like myself and Reggie, it seems like we're always getting the stuff, and all the hype and the attention, but it's really the guys like Lofa Tatupu, guys like Mike and Grootegood and Jason Leach obviously and guys that kind of don't get mentioned. LenDale White is a great player, great leader. Without him I don't know if we'd be at this point. Our team is so unselfish that it's just great to see. Like I said, myself, Reggie, a couple other guys get a lot of media attention, but guys just sit there and keep doing our job. Obviously we wish the whole team would get the attention, not just single out individual players, but those guys are really key, key players to this team and really we wouldn't be here without those guys.

MATT LEINART: Nothing. I mean, it still really hasn't even hit me yet. It's kind of strange, but I just came home and got back to work. I practiced the next day and have just been practicing ever since then. Every once in a while I'll stop and just kind of really think, "Is this really happening?" that kind of stuff, but it didn't take too much for me to leave that weekend behind and get back to business.

MATT LEINART: Yeah, I think it's something in the future years and months, you know. I really realize what happened to me, and when I'm 40 years old and going back to New York for the Heisman Trophy winner 20 years or whatever, that's the kind of thing that kind of trips me out. I'm so young, I don't think I really realize the impact and the -- what that whole weekend as all about.

MATT LEINART: Nope. I mean, Carson played in this game two years ago and was MVP, so that's my lone example that I'll give. I don't think there's a jinx. For whatever reason they haven't won.

MATT LEINART: Compare him to who?

MATT LEINART: He came in. In camp we first saw him and we realized the potential that he had. He was making plays. He was kind of down because he was far from home and he was only -- he barely turned 18 midway through the season, so he was just a little kid out there and had to grow up fast, and I kind of took him under my wing and just kept his head up, kept feeding him the ball even when he had a few tough games in the beginning where he dropped a few passes. I mean, it's just amazing from game 1 to game 12 how he's just improved every single game. I think he's going to be one of the greatest receivers of all time. He's only a freshman at USC and just a phenomenal talent, just big, athletic and fast.

MATT LEINART: Maybe a little bit. I think following in Mike Williams' and Cary Colbert, two great receivers, the receiving corps was a question mark coming in. Steve Smith was our only experienced guy and he was only a freshman last year, so they kind of had to grow up fast. It helped having myself back, running backs back and a veteran defense to kind of keep things going while these guys get accustomed to the speed at the college level and these big games. They stepped up right away and have been making plays every game.

MATT LEINART: I think the 4th down -- there was a 4th down play against Cal where he went up -- it was our first series and he went up and got flipped upside down. It's like 4th and 10 and he made that, and ever since that game, I think that was his first touchdown -- no, BYU he had a touchdown, but that was his real big game, and ever since then he had this swagger and confidence that he was missing coming into the season, and now he's confident as can be, and that's great because he's a great player. We need him. He never puts his head down anymore. He dresses a little different, walks around a little different, and it's good to see that. It's fun.

MATT LEINART: I think Jason is a great player. If it weren't -- I think Peterson obviously gets a lot of credit this year, but if they didn't have Jason I don't know if they'd be in this position. He's been their leader the past couple years, and he has had some adversity in his career at Oklahoma and really getting to know him in Orlando and New York was a great experience because he's a great person. I mean, he had two phenomenal back-to-back seasons, and he's ready to finish his career and then take it to the next level. I think he's a great player.

MATT LEINART: You know, obviously I think -- I don't know. We don't want to make it a battle one-on-one obviously because it's a team, and I think I speak for Jason when I say we need to play well and do what the coaches ask of us and really not turn the ball over, lead our offense, move the ball and keep the other defense -- keep our defenses off the field because both offenses can score a lot and can hit you with quick strikes and everything. We've got to keep our defense off the field as long as possible. We have to have long drives and I think they want to do the same thing.

MATT LEINART: It's pretty easy. I don't really think about it too much. I was saying earlier, every once in a while I'll look at it when I'm home, and it's just bizarre that it really happened. It's not tough for me to stay focused. Ever since I got back I was on a mission to get back in the groove of things and not get complacent, not really care what had happened. Obviously I'm going to take it with me forever and it's a great memory, but I'm ready to play this game.

MATT LEINART: Yeah, it's right around the corner. It's a couple days away, and seeing this field, it's going to be fun on Tuesday night. I can't wait. I think the guys are kind of anxious to get out there and just ready to perform, and on such a big stage and putting these jerseys on, it's fun to be in our home jerseys and I'm ready to play.

MATT LEINART: We talked every night we've been out here. He was a good friend of mine since high school. It's going to be fun playing against him. All year we talked about staying undefeated so we can play each other in this game, and now it kind of turned out that way. I know he wants to pick me off, but I'm not ready to give him an interception. It's going to be fun. I'm excited to play against him. He's a great player. We recruited him hard at USC and it was between us and Oklahoma and he chose Oklahoma and he's done a great job. It's going to be business come game time, but at the same time it's fun. We're going to be excited to play against each other.

MATT LEINART: It's definitely grown a lot since I started playing. You know, I speak with him every day almost in his office, just talking about everything. Really it's not a lot about football, just a lot about what's going on in my life, his life. It's really a cool thing to be a part of, and to be coached by one of the greatest offensive coordinators ever with his resume and the guys he's coached, I'm just happy to be a part of that and everything. He's been very instrumental in the growth of myself as a player and as a person.

MATT LEINART: You know, obviously I want to -- if I come back, I want him to be there. I'm sure there will be a time and place where we will talk about that, but I plan on coming back and I plan on him coming back, too.

MATT LEINART: Yeah, that went through my mind a lot. I never planned on transferring. There was a lot of rumors, but I never looked at any other schools obviously. I just kind of had to wait my turn. It was a tough position to be in. There was four of us battling and it was up in the air. I didn't really separate myself too much from when spring ended, but I had to have some confidence of the coaches in myself. I kind of just took the opportunity and ran with it, but it was hard. Even playing the first half of the season last year where I was looking behind my back and having guys creep up on me and not playing as well as I could, but once I got comfortable in the system and running the offense, I just never looked back, and here I am today, confident, know the system like it's my own and everything and just very capable of running it.

MATT LEINART: No, I was talking to Donte Nicholson obviously, and he and Jason are good friends, I think, and he just handed the phone over to Jason and I started talking to Jason. That's how it started. The one time I talked to him over the summer and he was supposed to come down for the high school quarterback camp and we were going to hang out, but we didn't get a chance to, and I met him in Orlando.

MATT LEINART: This is something you dream of. Sitting up here, it's been such a fun ride the past couple years, and to finish this season off and being here in the championship game is really, there's no other feeling like it.

MATT LEINART: No, this is fun. It's a good time. I have fun up here.

MATT LEINART: Yeah, I talk to him a lot. A lot of times we leave messages because he's hard to get a hold off. I talked to him in New York. I think he's coming out here. They have a game today and he's coming out here tomorrow, I believe, but he's been very supportive of me and offered me a lot of advice throughout the season and how to handle situations like this, how to handle the whole Heisman thing. I'm looking forward to seeing him.

MATT LEINART: Obviously inside we were not like bummed, but we worked hard and we thought we were in the position to get to the title game, and we didn't obviously. Then we just figured why sulk and why get down about it? We're going to the Rose Bowl and we can make a statement. We can show everyone that we're the No. 1 team in the country. We believed we were the best team last year, so we handled our business and did only what we could control, and that was the most important thing. Deep inside we were kind of a little bummed, I think, maybe a little.

MATT LEINART: You know, I watched the first series and that was it. When I heard that they lost, I was kind of a little surprised. Texas Tech is a good team and they came out ready to go, and for whatever reason they just beat them.

MATT LEINART: I don't think so. Especially in the bowl games, anyone can beat anyone. You have more than a month to prepare, so if you have a game plan, you come out fired up and start out fast, I think anybody can beat anybody. That game has no significance to our game. I don't see how people can think it does. If they do then they do, but Texas Tech just beat Cal on that day.

MATT LEINART: It's in my living room sitting there not really doing much. I don't know what we're going to do with it. I think I just pretty much gave it to my parents and let them really handle all that. I don't really think of it much. But it's at my parents' house in Orange County.