Tonight’s game a clash of the titans

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – Anticipated all season, set up with matching blowouts and relentlessly hyped for the last month, the Rose Bowl everyone’s been waiting for is finally here.

No. 1 USC against No. 2 Texas, with their perfect records, potent offenses, glittery stars, rich tradition and eye-popping pageantry – playing for the national championship in Pasadena tonight.

The game of the year! The game of the century! The game of all time!

Or just another day at work for two-time defending champion Southern Cal?

“This is what we have really prepared to do and hopefully built ourselves toward this,” USC coach Pete Carroll said Tuesday. “You can’t get a big enough game for us.”

Heisman Trophy winners Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush have led the Trojans to 34 straight victories. Against Texas, they’ll become the first Heisman duo to play together in a college game as USC goes for a record third consecutive national title.

The Longhorns also are 12-0, and they’ve won 19 in a row. Heisman runner-up Vince Young is the dynamic dual threat who leads an offense that has more than matched USC touchdown for touchdown.

Texas puts up 51 points per game, USC 50. USC is favored by a TD.

“We don’t have to be the best team of all time, just tomorrow night,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.

It’s already the best game Bowl Championship Series officials could have imagined in their eight-year history. No doubts about who belongs.

“These two teams have been talked about every day for a month,” Brown said. “Good teams enjoy the hype.”

Young brought a new dimension to Texas. The guy many thought would never complete enough passes to lead a team to a championship threw for 2,769 yards and 26 touchdowns this season.

“There’s nobody like this,” Carroll said. “There’s guys that can run, there’s guys that throw, there’s quick guys and all that, but nobody’s ever been this fast.”

The Longhorns began the season ranked No. 2 in the country behind USC – and that’s the way it stayed.

Young was brilliant, but not good enough to keep Bush from sprinting away with the Heisman.

Bush ran for 1,658 yards – 8.9 per carry – hurdling a few tacklers along the way.

USC is the first team with a 3,000-yard passer (Leinart), two 1,000-yard rushers (Bush and LenDale White), and a 1,000-yard receiver (Dwayne Jarrett).

“Right now we’re right where I hoped we were going to be when I made my decision to return for my senior season,” said Leinart.