Leinart, Keeping NFL Talk for Later, Has Critic in Sooner

Underclassmen can petition the NFL for an evaluation of their potential draft status, but USC quarterback Matt Leinart said Tuesday that he had not begun the process.

No. 1 USC plays No. 2 Oklahoma on Jan. 4 in the Orange Bowl, this season’s bowl championship series title game. The deadline for applying for entry in the April draft is mid-January.

“I don’t really know what to do, or how to do it, but I realize the decision I have to make comes up pretty fast after the bowl game,” Leinart, a redshirt junior, said after practice. “I still can’t really talk about it.”

Meanwhile, Oklahoma defensive end Larry Birdine was anything but tight-lipped about his evaluation of Leinart, who won the Heisman Trophy this month.

“He’s definitely overrated ... he’s a good quarterback, but he’s not a Heisman-winning quarterback,” Birdine said in Norman, Okla.

Birdine said Utah quarterback Alex Smith, who finished fourth in the Heisman balloting, was better than Leinart. Birdine praised Trojan running back Reggie Bush but apparently is not impressed with USC’s other players.

“I want to respect them just because I have to play them, but then I watch them on tape and everything, and I realize that they’re an average team,” Birdine said.

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Junior running back Hershel Dennis attended practice on crutches and said he probably would have surgery Jan. 7 to repair torn ligaments in his left knee. Dennis said he would accompany the Trojans to Miami for the Orange Bowl, ending a season that began with his suspension for violating team rules.

“It’s been a rough go, but there’s obstacles you have to go through in life,” said Dennis, who probably will not play until 2006. “It’s the way you come back and how you handle them that shows how much of a man you are.”

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Ed Orgeron reiterated that no Trojan assistant coaches would be joining him at Mississippi, where Orgeron was named head coach.

Orgeron hired Shawn Slocum, USC’s linebackers coach in 1998 and 1999, as assistant head coach at Mississippi. Slocum was at USC on Tuesday and said he would spend a few days studying the Trojans’ defense.

Mississippi’s strength and conditioning coaches also are on campus to observe and meet with USC counterpart Chris Carlisle.

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Coach Pete Carroll said senior offensive lineman John Drake (ankle) has a good chance of starting against Oklahoma.... Running back LenDale White (ankle) did some light running but will not practice until next week, Carroll said.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.