Leinart Will Take His Time

About the only way Matt Leinart could have topped his Orange Bowl performance in the eyes of adoring USC fans was to return to campus and declare that he was sticking around for his senior season.

As he did while throwing five touchdown passes during the Trojans’ 55-19 victory over Oklahoma, Leinart played it cool Wednesday afternoon amid chants of “One more year! One more year!” saying he would wait until the Jan. 15 deadline before deciding whether to make himself eligible for the NFL draft.

“I’m still uncertain about that,” Leinart told a throng of USC fans who had gathered outside Heritage Hall to welcome home the two-time national champions. “It’s going to take a lot for me to leave despite the game last night and the Heisman Trophy.

“There’s still some things I want to do here.”

Leinart, the Heisman winner and Orange Bowl MVP, led USC to a 13-0 record, its first perfect season since 1972. He is 25-1 as a starter and could lead the Trojans to an unprecedented third consecutive national title.

“There’s talk about building a dynasty, and I know Coach [Pete] Carroll doesn’t like to use that term, but I don’t really see us slowing down,” Leinart said. “We can kind of see where this thing might be going.”

The crowd of about 100 included only a smattering of students because USC’s spring semester does not begin until Monday.

Christian Yang, a dental student, noticed the gathering while looking out the third-floor window of a laboratory. He raced across the street with a large sheet of paper and collected signatures from Carroll, running back Hershel Dennis and defensive tackle Shaun Cody.

“It was the only thing available,” Yang lamented. “I wish I could have brought my jersey.”

Transfer student Angela Valenzuela said she hoped to see Leinart play in person next season, but she might have arrived too late. Leinart completed 18 of 35 passes for 332 yards in the Orange Bowl and could join junior quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers of California and Alex Smith of Utah as early draft entrants if he decided to leave.

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Before departing Florida on Wednesday morning, Carroll was presented with four national championship trophies: The Grantland Rice Trophy, presented by the Football Writers Assn. of America; the MacArthur Trophy (National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame); the Associated Press Trophy and the ADT National Championship Trophy, presented to the winner of the bowl championship series title.

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Times staff writer Gary Klein contributed to this report.