Bush’s Reaction Is by the Book

Just as Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart did after they won the Heisman Trophy, USC tailback Reggie Bush celebrated at a trendy Manhattan nightspot after the announcement of his landslide victory.

Bush, however, made a different kind of plan for Sunday night.

“Hopefully, I can get some studying done,” Bush said Sunday morning as he traversed the city in a limousine for a round of late-morning television appearances.

Bush’s study session was in the works before he became the 71st Heisman winner.

As Bush, Leinart and Texas quarterback Vince Young waited backstage for the nationally televised announcement show to begin Saturday night, Bush found a computer and printed notes for one of three finals he will take this week.

“I saw opportunity and I took it,” he said.

Bush is accustomed to studying before and after Heisman announcements.

Last year, he took mental notes when he was invited here along with Leinart, Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma quarterback Jason White -- the 2003 Heisman winner -- and Utah quarterback Alex Smith, Bush’s former teammate at Helix High in La Mesa.

After finishing fifth in Heisman balloting, Bush told reporters he would be back for this year’s ceremony and then observed Leinart in the aftermath of the Trojan quarterback’s victory.

Bush said Sunday that he would not be overcome by the magnitude of his achievement. Bush received the largest percentage of first-place votes in the history of the award.

“It will hit me but it won’t change me,” said Bush, who wore a black suit and cream-colored shirt for his television appearances. “I’ll be the same person I’ve been all along.”

Bush, however, recognized that his status changed the moment he joined a 70-member Heisman fraternity that includes six other USC players: Leinart, who won in 2004, Palmer (2002), Marcus Allen (1981), Charles White (1979), O.J. Simpson (1968) and Mike Garrett (1965).

“I’ve been in college three years,” Bush said during a speech after he was announced as the winner. “This is the first time I’ve been invited into a fraternity.”

Bush will be formally presented with his trophy at a black-tie dinner tonight at the Hilton New York hotel. USC Coach Pete Carroll and members of his staff are scheduled to arrive from Los Angeles to join a group that also will include Garrett, White and Leinart.

Before the dinner, Bush will tape a segment for “The Late Show With David Letterman.”

Leinart said Bush’s celebrity status would not affect the running back’s attitude and work ethic.

“Guys who are in the limelight like that, they have a tendency to have stereotypes and change. ... Reggie is exactly the opposite,” Leinart said Saturday night.

Later, the quarterback joined Bush and a contingent that included Trojan running back LenDale White at Marquee, the same club where Bush helped Leinart celebrate last year.

Bush and White have alternated at tailback throughout their careers. Bush said he was happy that Carroll allowed him to share the moment with the fellow junior and that White enjoyed the scene. But the teammates did not discuss whether it would influence White to return for a final season of eligibility and a possible Heisman celebration of his own.

“I didn’t talk to him about that because I’m not sure how much he wants to be back,” Bush said. “I don’t know if he even wants to come back even if he did have a chance.”

Bush, projected by many as the possible top pick in the 2006 NFL draft if he decides to turn pro, reiterated during an appearance on “The NFL Today” show that he would not make a decision about his plans until after the season. That did not stop Boomer Esiason from pulling out helmets of the Houston Texans and New York Jets and telling Bush, “You can take it to the bank. It’s going to be one of these two teams.”

After he left the studio, Bush acknowledged that he had thought about turning pro.

“You can’t help thinking about it, especially with the media almost trying to force me to go to the NFL,” Bush said, laughing.

“I’ve thought about it, but that’s as far as it’s gone. I’m not leaning a certain way and I’m not trying to at this point.

“I’m trying to focus on this big game we have coming up.”

Top-ranked USC plays second-ranked Texas in the Rose Bowl, this season’s bowl championship series title game, on Jan. 4. The Trojans are seeking their third consecutive national title.

On Sunday, the New York Post published a story that featured the headline: “Vince guarantee: We’ll beat USC.”

During a basketball game between Texas and Duke on Saturday afternoon, a Post reporter had asked the Texas quarterback if he was ready to make like former Jet quarterback Joe Namath and guarantee a victory.

“Right now, yeah, I’m very confident about it,” Young was quoted as saying. “They [the Trojans] come in the game off a high winning streak, and everybody’s blowing them up, you know, and they think we’re the underdogs and we’re not going to come to play. I know that we are. We’re going to come and show them the Texas football team.”

Bush said Young’s comments were the only real surprise of his Heisman experience.

“I don’t know what it is about us that people just feel like they need to just lash out and say stuff out of the ordinary,” Bush said.