The USC quarterback says he has not made up his mind on next spring's draft.
By MICHAEL LEV
If he wasn't the last player out of USC's locker room late Saturday night ? or was it early Sunday morning? ? Matt Barkley certainly was among the last.
He paused briefly to do a TV interview before making his way up the tunnel and out of the Coliseum to greet his family.
A handful of reporters trailed along, one of them asking whether Barkley had a time frame in mind for his Big Decision.
"No. No clue," the grinning junior quarterback said. "One day at a time, right?"
And so the Matt Barkley Watch began.
Barkley has about seven weeks, until mid-January, to decide whether to enter the 2012 NFL draft or return for his senior season at USC. Coach Lane Kiffin, for one, doesn't expect Barkley to return.
"I'm probably not supposed to say this, but unless he just wants to do it to be a special Trojan, he ain't coming back," Kiffin said. "Who's playing better than that in the country? If you're an NFL team ... how do you not draft that kid?
"He's every bit ready to go to the NFL. It's just going to be a decision: Does he want to do something that's really unique? And he might be the kid to do that. ...."
Kiffin praised Barkley as a player and a person. His achievements as the former are obvious: With six more touchdown passes in Saturday night's 50-0 shellacking of UCLA, Barkley eclipsed Matt Leinart's school- and conference-record total of 38. Barkley reached 39 in one fewer game.
As for the latter, Kiffin expressed his sincerest gratitude and respect for the way Barkley handled himself through a coaching change, NCAA sanctions and other adversity. For a time he served as the spokesman for USC football despite, as Kiffin put it, having many of his football-related dreams taken away.
"I look up to Matt Barkley," Kiffin said. "There aren't many 39-year-olds that can do that, let alone 19-year-olds. He's just unbelievable, and it obviously goes back to his awesome parents."
Barkley's parents, Les and Bev, were out there waiting for him Saturday night. Asked whether he'd push his eldest son one way or another, Les Barkley said: "It's his decision."
Matt Barkley was in no position to say anything definitive about it so soon after the game.
"I don't know what I'm doing," he said. "This night is too special to take away from (it) and what we've done this year.
"I'm really going to enjoy the night. We worked hard for this, and I think we deserve to celebrate a little bit."
Barkley reveled in the afterglow of USC's big victory. After conducting the band, which has become an almost weekly ritual, Barkley made his way across the field toward the tunnel. Reporters and photographers surrounded him, getting closer than the Bruins defense did most of the night. Barkley rewarded the fans who stuck around and chanted his name by Lambeau-leaping into their arms. He then jogged up the ramp toward the USC locker room, making the fight-on "V" sign with both hands.
One couldn't help but wonder whether he was waving goodbye.
Contact the writer: mlev@ocregister.com
usc trojans ucla bruins matt barkley lane kiffin robert woods rich neuheisel marc tyler
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