Carroll: Bowl ‘Buzz’ Different From Before

After a four-day break for the holidays, top-ranked USC on Wednesday began its final push for the Rose Bowl and its showdown against second-ranked Texas.

“We’ve been here before,” Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush said. “We played in the Rose Bowl two years ago. We played in the national championship game [last year in the Orange Bowl]. The biggest games.

“So for us it’s another football game. Not to downplay the national championship, but we’ve been here before.”

Quarterback Matt Leinart, the 2004 Heisman winner, also said the Trojans would not be overwhelmed as they move closer to a shot at their third consecutive Associated Press national title.

“We’ve been in this situation a couple of times,” Leinart said. “We know how to prepare. We know how to practice. We know how to play in this game. So it’s going to be fun.”

Coach Pete Carroll, however, said he sensed a difference between this year’s bowl preparation and last year’s.

“The buzz is just a little bit different,” said Carroll, who finalized a contract extension earlier in the day. “I know the kids can sense it.... It just feels a step, a notch, bigger to us all.”

With the game only one week away, Carroll said the Trojans were right on schedule.

“It’s always been about your preparation and what you bring every day,” Carroll said. “To this point we’re on track.”

*

The San Francisco 49ers will play the Houston Texans this weekend in a game some have dubbed “The Reggie Bowl,” because the loser could wind up with the top pick in the NFL draft.

Bush, a junior, is expected to announce sometime after the Rose Bowl that he will turn pro. Many regard the Heisman winner as the possible top pick in the draft.

“It’s good to know you have fans out there and people that recognize, I guess, your talent and they want you in their cities,” Bush said. “For me, that’s a great feeling.”

Asked if he would watch the game, Bush said, “Of course.”

Bush said he would root for 49er quarterback Alex Smith, his former teammate at Helix High in La Mesa who was the No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft. Smith has struggled this season.

“I’d just like to see him have a somewhat solid game,” Bush said.

*

Leinart said he was concerned when USC ruled him ineligible earlier this month after ESPN aired a short promo he taped following USC’s victory over UCLA on Dec. 3.

The NCAA reinstated Leinart last week.

Leinart declined to talk about the promo but joked with reporters about his punishment, which included a ban on media interviews until Wednesday.

“They told me, ‘You’re going to be banned from the media,’ ” said Leinart, who had been besieged with interview requests the last two seasons. “I was like ‘All right.’ ”

Then, with mock disappointment, he added, “I was like, ‘Darn.’ Just kidding.”

*

Carroll said the Trojans were in better shape, health-wise, than they have been in months. Linebacker Keith Rivers and receiver Patrick Turner appear recovered from hamstring injuries. Linebacker Thomas Williams, who is trying to come back from arthroscopic knee surgery, and receiver Greig Carlson, who sat out most of the season because of a groin injury, will try to practice in the next few days, Carroll said.

*

USC will practice this morning and take a trip to Disneyland in the afternoon.