Carroll Locking In on Leinart

USC Coach Pete Carroll all but named Matt Leinart the starting quarterback for the season opener Thursday after the sophomore continued an impressive training camp by toughing out a hand injury.

Leinart and the Trojans received a scare when the left-hander bruised his throwing hand while trying to block on a reverse. Leinart was relieved when X-rays revealed no broken bones. He felt even better after Carroll gave him his strongest endorsement to date.

Asked when he would name a starting quarterback, Carroll said, “We have a starting quarterback -- we have a No. 1 guy.”

Carroll stopped short of proclaiming that Leinart would be under center Aug. 30 at Auburn, but that is only a formality if Leinart can stay sound in the next two weeks.

“I feel like I’ve been doing well this camp, and it’s my job, and I just want to go out there and lead the team,” Leinart said. “And I feel 100% confident that I can do that.”

Leinart, 6 feet 5 and 225 pounds, said he had no feeling in his left hand after it got caught between his pads and the helmet or pads of 285-pound defensive tackle Mike Patterson.

“I couldn’t really feel it for a minute and then I started getting my feeling back,” he said.

Later, during a team drill near the goal line, Carroll summoned Leinart, who did not hesitate to reenter.

“[I said], ‘Hey Matt, it’s a game. Can you go back in?’ ” Carroll said. “He banged his way back in there, took a couple snaps and toughed it out.

“I kind of liked that we had a chance to put him in that situation right there. His reaction was perfect and he competitively jumped right back at it.”

Said Leinart: “It hurt a little bit, but I went out there to show my teammates ... [at] game time, you gotta go out there and play hurt or whatever.”

With Leinart entrenched, and possibly sidelined today while recovering, Carroll and his staff are expected to begin narrowing their choice on a backup.

Junior transfer Brandon Hance appeared to have an edge over junior Matt Cassel before Tuesday’s scrimmage. However Cassel -- Carson Palmer’s seldom used backup last season -- might be at the forefront now.

“Matt Cassel has the best background -- he has the most experience in our system,” Carroll said. “We’re banking on that when we don’t give him as many turns because he’s been around us.”

Carroll said freshman John David Booty is not ready to compete for playing time. Booty sat out three days this week because of back soreness.

During one series of team drills on Thursday, freshmen Brandon Ting and Desmond Reed intercepted passes by Booty, who also lost a fumble on an exchange from center.

“It was one of those learning days,” Booty said. “You make a few mistakes and all you can do is go back and watch film and try to get better at it.”