Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush was in attendance for the 27-20 thriller between USC and LSU at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday.
The neutral-site game offered a preview of what a College Football Playoff quarterfinal atmosphere might feel like. The Trojans won 27-20 behind 14 fourth-quarter points in a quarterback duel between Miller Moss and Garrett Nussmeier. Lincoln Riley celebrated. Brian Kelly pounded the table in the post-game press conference.
For Bush – who is partnered with Modelo for the 2024 college football season – these kinds of games make the case that the 12-team College Football Playoff is going to work. LSU lost, but the Tigers are still very much in the playoff race. Bush discussed that – and the return of his Heisman Trophy from the 2005 season – in a conversation with Sporting News on Aug. 28.
Reggie Bush talks 12-team College Football Playoff
Bush remembers the 2003 college football season when he was a freshman at USC. The Trojans lost 34-31 to Cal in triple-overtime on Sept. 27, 2003. USC won the rest of their games – but they had to settle for a share of the national championship with LSU, who beat Oklahoma 21-14 in the BCS championship game.
The difference now? The Trojans beat LSU on Sunday, but both teams are very much alive in the first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff. That September loss is not a season-breaker.
"I've always been against and never liked the fact that you have to be perfect on the season just to have the opportunity to make it to the playoffs," Bush told Sporting News. "I always felt like that was a disservice to the game because at the NFL level and the high school level that's not true. That's not the way it operates. You can lose a game and still make the playoffs."
Bush also said having college football playoff games on campus is long overdue. He played for USC’s national championship team in 2004. The Trojans nearly had a three-peat, but they lost 41-38 to Texas in the 2006 Rose Bowl. Yet Bush never got to play a playoff game at The Coliseum.
"I wish, I wish we had the opportunity to play a home playoff game at USC, at the Coliseum in that era we played in with just all the excitement that we were creating, the buzz, everything," Bush said. "That would have been massive for us. That would have been huge for us. That is a part of the game that we have missed for so long."
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Reggie Bush talks return of Heisman Trophy
Bush won the Heisman Trophy in 2005 in a season where he compiled 2,890 all-purpose yards as a running back and returner with a dazzling display of highlight-reel plays that carries over into this generation.
Bush forfeited the Heisman Trophy in 2010 amid NCAA sanctions at USC, but the Heisman Trust returned the award to Bush on April 24, 2024. Bush flew to Jacksonville to get the award back.
"It was supposed to be a surprise," Bush insisted.
Two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin was among the former winners who greeted Bush. Heisman winners Tim Tebow and Ricky Williams also were in attendance. Bush unveiled that Heisman portrait last week.
Bush is grateful for the return of the award and the continued support from the other past winners as part of a return that was long overdue.
"The support has been great from Day 1," Bush said. "The guys have supported me. I'm happy obviously to have the Heisman Trophy back. It should have never left, and it should have never happened. It's also great to know my peers were in my corner. It meant the world to me to walk into that room and see those guys standing there, all in support of me and getting my trophy back."
Bush is partnered with Modelo for the Full-Time Fans campaign, where he will recruit the most-dedicated fans for a chance to attend the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship. "It's an exciting opportunity for fans to be able to join team Modelo, to be able to meet me at the national championship, and to be able to be recruited," Bush said. "That's going to be something that's going to be different for them. I'm going to be helping to recruit them."