All-Century member Reggie Bush gets warm reception at Pac-12 championship

Former USC running back Reggie Bush attended the Trojans’ 41-22 defeat by Stanford on Saturday in the Pac-12 Conference championship game and he was greeted warmly by players and the crowd at Levi’s Stadium.

Bush, who plays for the San Francisco 49ers, was honored before the game for being part of the Pac-12 Networks’ All-Century team that was announced this week. Bush suffered a season-ending knee injury on Nov. 1 when he slipped on concrete at Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

Bush won the Heisman Trophy at USC in 2005 but later forfeited the award in the aftermath of an NCAA investigation and sanctions that centered on Bush and his family for accepting what were determined to be “extra benefits” from would-be agents.

As part of the sanctions, USC was ordered to permanently disassociate from Bush.

The school removed all images of Bush from campus and the Coliseum and his Heisman Trophy was removed from Heritage Hall.

The Pac-12 championship game is a conference-sponsored event.

“We are honoring all of these players, including Reggie, based on their performance,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said. “Reggie made the cut.

“We’re not really making a political statement one way or another here. We want to honor those that were the most significant, that had the most impact in terms of their performance. What that means to the NCAA and USC is outside our view.”

Bush met several Trojans players before the game. A USC spokesman said Bush was walking in the concourse outside the locker room and “poked his head” in. The spokesman said USC did not orchestrate the locker room visit. Photos were posted on the athletic department’s Twitter feed.

“Amazing, greatness, USC Trojan, the face of SC,” receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said of Bush.

Trojans running back Justin Davis said the players were already too keyed up for the game even before Bush appeared.

“We were all fired up that he came here and it just showed that he’s one of the dudes that made a lot of these people on the team want to come here,” Davis said. “It’s just good to see him show his face when he is really kind of banned from the university.”

Several former Trojans players reacted to Bush’s presence on social media.

“Come home big bro @ReggieBush!” wrote former linebacker Hayes Pullard.

“So happy to see this did so much for USC... best college player EVER in my opinion,” wrote former linebacker Devon Kennard.

Productive night

Smith-Schuster caught a season-best 11 passes for 87 yards. The sophomore had 10 receptions against Idaho in the second game of the season.

Smith-Schuster has a team-best 85 receptions.

Falah starts

Nico Falah became the fourth USC player to start at center this season.

Falah, a third-year sophomore, started in place of Khaliel Rodgers, who suffered a high-ankle sprain during the Trojans’ 41-20 victory over UCLA.

Pinner scores

Senior fullback Jahleel Pinner scored his second career touchdown when he caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Cody Kessler.

The Trojans trailed, 13-3, at halftime but drove from their 35-yard line to the Cardinal one on the opening possession of the third quarter

On second and goal from the one, Kessler faked a handoff to tailback Justin Davis and found a wide-open Pinner in the right flat.

Pinner also scored against Colorado.

Etc.

Ronald Jones II said this week that he was over the freshman jitters that affected his performance in the first game against Stanford. He showed it on a 27-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that gave the Trojans a 16-13 lead. Jones rushed for 50 yards in six carries. He has rushed for a team-best 940 yards.

Adoree’ Jackson started at safety for the second consecutive game. Jackson started 10 of the first 11 games at cornerback before moving to safety against UCLA.

gary.klein@latimes.com

Thiry is a Times correspondent.