Reggie Bush is on the clock.
The Heisman Trophy winner has a little more than a month to decide whether he’ll enter the NFL draft or become the second straight junior from Southern California to pass up a chance to be the No. 1 pick and go back to school.
But it’s not as if Bush can spend the holiday season weighing the pros and cons, pondering the biggest decision of his young life. There’s still a national championship game for which he must prepare.
For now, he’s putting his future on hold.
“I won’t think about it until after this Rose Bowl game,” he said Saturday after becoming the third USC player to win the Heisman in the past four years. “We’ve got our work cut out for us with Texas.”
Bush and Trojans quarterback Matt Leinart, last year’s Heisman winner, play Texas for the national title Jan. 4, marking another historic moment for the USC dynasty. Never before have Heisman Trophy winners played together in a college game.
The deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft is Jan. 15.
Bush did allow for a moment of speculation at his post-victory news conference at a Manhattan restaurant.
“I love the whole East Coast atmosphere,” Bush said. “I can definitely see myself playing here, playing for the New York Jets.”
The Jets are among the hapless teams, including Houston, San Francisco and Green Bay, in danger of finishing with the worst record in the NFL and the first pick in the draft.
Leinart said he wasn’t ready to give up college life after winning the Heisman in 2004. But he also knew he was coming back to play with Bush in an offense that might be unmatched in the history of college football.
Even without Leinart, USC would have been tough to beat this season. With him, the Trojans have run their winning streak to 34 games and can become the first team to win three straight Associated Press national titles by beating Texas.
If Bush returns to USC, he’ll make life a whole lot easier for highly touted quarterback John David Booty, Leinart’s likely successor.
The pipeline of talent running into USC these days is unsurpassed, but replacing Bush and Leinart in the same year would be daunting.
If Bush does come back, he’ll be the third straight Heisman winner to play another year of college football and a huge favorite to repeat.
UCLA: Kicker Justin Medlock was arrested for investigation of drunken driving and felony hit-and-run after allegedly leaving the scene of the accident, which left a member of the school’s women’s golf team seriously injured, authorities said Sunday.
The 22-year-old junior was suspended indefinitely from the team and will not play Dec. 30 in the Sun Bowl.
