From fumble to Bush-league shove, USC's follies are fabulous
"My left eye, I guess, got 10 times better," Jarrett said. "I just focused in with my left eye."
"That's a play that should live forever at SC," offensive lineman Fred Matua said.
True, until the ball reached the goal line. When Notre Dame's defense realized that Leinart was actually going to go for it, it girded. When Notre Dame's defense realized it had stopped Leinart, hearts might have soared in the stands. Leinart spun, turned his back to his attackers and was halted.
Then Bush came up, gave his teammate a big shove in the chest and USC won.
While breaking the rules.
What Bush did was something called "aiding the runner". NCAA rules committee secretary-editor John Adams did not see the play from his home in Colorado early Saturday night but told SportsLine.com by phone that a teammate cannot help a ball carrier in such a situation into the end zone.
While it is rarely called, a flag could have been thrown because there's no way Leinart gets in without Bush's help.
They knew it to the point that USC players were joking about it.
"I just shoved him in there as hard as I could," Bush said.
"I didn't want to spike the ball," Leinart said. "I made the choice. Reggie was like, 'You're welcome, man. I pushed you.'"
When Leinart scored with three ticks left, Notre Dame Nation was left literally slack-jawed. Weis had a mouthful for the officials on the fumble, although replays showed the correct calls were made.
After the game ended, a menacing member of Notre Dame's fabled Irish Guard yelled for media and USC players to "get off the field."
Taking a potshot at Weis, Pete Carroll quipped: "I love the fact that our streak is longer than New England's."
A bad decision didn't hurt. An all-or-nothing gamble paid off. It's good to be a Trojan right now because an undefeated regular season (at least) looks like destiny.
"That's probably one of the greatest finishes of all time in college football history," Leinart said.
All because a football fluttered out of bounds.
