Leinart will play senior season

NEW YORK – Matt Leinart owns a Heisman Trophy and a national title – and he’s got a shot at another championship coming up in less than a month.

The Southern California quarterback is likely to be a high first-round NFL draft choice in April if he decides to skip his senior season.

It would seem as though Leinart must be a lock to go pro, right? No so fast: He’s been saying since last year he wants to use all of his college eligibility. And after winning the Heisman, he hadn’t changed his tune.

“That’s a question I get asked a lot,” the fourth-year junior said Saturday night after becoming the Trojans’ sixth Heisman winner. “But I’m sticking to my word that I still intend to return for my fifth year.”

Leinart won what was thought to be a close race most of the season rather handily. The 6-foot-5 left-hander received 1,325 points and won all but one of the six voting regions. He finished third in the Southwest behind Oklahoma teammates Adrian Peterson and Jason White.

Leinart and the top-ranked Trojans will face White, Peterson and the Sooners in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 4 in the first matchup of players with Heisman trophies.

Leinart became USC’s second Heisman winner in three years; Carson Palmer won it in 2002 and now plays quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. The Trojans had four Heisman-winning tailbacks from 1965-81 – starting with Mike Garrett, now the Trojans’ athletic director, followed by O.J. Simpson in ‘68, Charles White in ‘79 and Marcus Allen.

“I told (Bush), ‘You’ll be standing up there next season,’ and he said, ‘I know,’ ” Garrett said.