Palmer Gets a Heisman Invitation

As expected, USC quarterback Carson Palmer was named Wednesday as one of five finalists for the Heisman Trophy, the first Trojan to make the cut since Rodney Peete in 1988.

Quarterback Ken Dorsey and running back Willis McGahee of top-ranked Miami, Iowa quarterback Brad Banks and Penn State running back Larry Johnson also are finalists. The winner will be announced Saturday at the Yale Club in New York.

“I’m fired up -- it’s a huge honor,” Palmer said by phone from Orlando, Fla., where he will take part in tonight’s Home Depot College Football Awards Show. “I wasn’t thinking about it too much because it was out of my hands.”

Palmer, who passed for 3,639 yards and 32 touchdowns this season, has already won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award as the nation’s top senior quarterback. He is a finalist for the Davey O’Brien award (top quarterback) and Walter Camp award (top player), which are among 12 awards that will be announced tonight on ESPN from 4 to 6 p.m.

USC safety Troy Polamalu is a finalist for the Thorpe award (top defensive back).

Palmer will collect the Unitas award on Friday in Louisville, Ky., and then travel to New York for the Heisman ceremony.

“It’s going to be crazy and I’m looking forward to it,” said Palmer, who could become the fifth USC player, and the first West Coast player since USC’s Marcus Allen, to win the Heisman.

Dorsey, who finished third in the Heisman voting last year, and McGahee are the first teammates to finish among the top five since 1994 when Penn State running back Ki-Jana Carter was second and quarterback Kerry Collins fourth. Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam won the 1994 trophy.

Dorsey is 38-1 as a starter. He has passed for 3,073 yards and 26 touchdowns this season for Miami, which plays second-ranked Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. McGahee rushed for 1,686 yards and 27 touchdowns, both school records.

Banks led the nation in passing efficiency, passed for 2,369 yards and 25 touchdowns and edged Palmer to become the Associated Press player of the year.

Johnson rushed for a nation-leading 2,015 yards to become the ninth Division I-A player gain more than 2,000 in a season.

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The Orange Bowl game is sold out. About 7,500 of USC’s 15,000 tickets are still available for sale, said Daryl Gross, a senior associate athletic director.... USC Coach Pete Carroll, Mark Jackson, the Trojans’ director of football operations, and Steve Lopes, a senior associate athletic director, were in Miami on Wednesday for preliminary planning for the Orange Bowl.... The Trojans resume practice today and will also work out Friday and Saturday.