Bush Push 20 years later: ‘Only time I’ve ever cried in a football game’

Twenty years ago, one of the most iconic — and controversial — plays in college football took place in one of the sport’s greatest rivalries.

As Southern California and Notre Dame prepare for what could be their final meeting for some time, the 2025 edition also marks the 20th anniversary of the infamous ‘Bush Push.’ In that game, No. 1 USC went into South Bend, Ind., and defeated No. 9 Notre Dame, 34-31, scoring a touchdown with three seconds left to take the lead.

But it’s far from an ordinary touchdown, and one that has been debated by both fan bases since on whether it should have happened — or been allowed?

USC vs Notre Dame 2005 importance

The 2005 meeting of the Trojans and Fighting Irish had great significance before the game kicked off. Undefeated and No. 1 USC was the defending national champion and Notre Dame had hype building under first-year coach Charlie Weis. In front of a sold-out Notre Dame Stadium, the Fighting Irish wore green uniforms, something they hadn’t done since 2002.

The game, lead-up to the Bush Push

It was a close game from start to finish, with the teams trading leads and it a one-score game the entire way. Notre Dame took a 31-28 lead thanks to quarterback Brady Quinn with just over two minutes left in the game.

The Trojans faced a 4th-and-9 at their own 26-yard line, and quarterback Matt Leinart placed the ball perfectly in the hands of receiver Dwayne Jarrett, who ran for a 61-yard gain into the red zone to keep USC alive.

After picking up a first down and the clock running inside 20 seconds, Leinart scrambled to his left to try and score a touchdown. However, just as he was approaching the goal line, the ball popped out of his hands.

Then came chaos. The clock continued to roll down to zero, and Notre Dame players and fans assumed the game was over and ran onto the field to celebrate.

After discussion, the referees confirmed the ball went out of bounds and the clock should have stopped. The field was cleared and seven seconds were put on the clock, with USC getting the ball at the 1-yard line.

‘Bush Push’ play break down

Having likely one play left, then-USC coach Pete Carroll instructed Leinart to spike the ball to set up a field goal to send the game to overtime.

Instead, Leinart made the decision to try and sneak the ball in for a touchdown and the win. He snapped the ball and tried to get in when the infamous part of the play occurred.

Leinart was initially stuffed, but running back Reggie Bush pushed his quarterback forward and he fell into the end zone for a touchdown to make it 34-31 en route to the victory.

Watch: ‘Bush Push’ video

Was ‘Bush Push’ legal?

While there’s no doubt Leinart scored, what’s made the play controversial is whether it should have counted.

At the time, Section 3, Article 2b of the NCAA rule book stated a runner ‘shall not grasp a teammate; and no other player of his team shall grasp, push, lift or charge into him to assist him in forward progress.’

Bush pushed Leinart, so a flag should have been thrown.

What’s important about the rule is while it existed, it was hardly ever enforced, so it would’ve been highly unlikely it wold have ever been called.

Effect of ‘Bush Push’

The play and result of the game had a dramatic effect on both teams. USC’s win streak pushed to 28 games, and had a perfect regular season en route to a spot in the national championship game. Bush also ended up winning the Heisman Trophy at the end of the year.

The Trojans would lose in the title game to Texas.

For Notre Dame, the loss dropped it to 4-2 and severely hurt the hype surrounding the team. The Fighting Irish ended the season 9-3 with a loss to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. It also started what would be a tough skid for Weis, who went 0-5 in all his meetings with the Trojans.

Matt Leinart, Brady Quinn meet on field again

As you can imagine, the emotions are still there for the two quarterbacks 20 years later.

Leinart and Quinn met inside Notre Dame Stadium earlier in the week as the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner recreated the play. However, Quinn threw a flag and said ‘they should’ve thrown it’ and ‘we should’ve won that.’

Leinart said it was ‘the only time I’ve ever cried in a football game.’

As the 20th anniversary approaches of the ‘Bush Push,’ the feelings are clearly still raw on both sides.